A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS
by ULYFERAL
Summary: It's Chance's birthday or is it? Chance's hidden past is about to make a shocking appearance and it won't be anything Megakat City will have ever seen before. Finished at last.
1. Chapter 1

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 1: Let Me Tell You A Story.

Evening was falling and Jake had a surprise for his long time friend. Chance was already watching TV when the cinnamon tom entered the room.

Chance blinked in surprise at the small cake with lighted candles his buddy placed on the table before him.

"Happy thirtieth Birthday, Chance." Jake said with a wide grin. "Make a wish and blow out the candles."

"Aw Gee, Jake. You shouldn't have done this but thanks." Chance said, swallowing a lump of emotion at his friend's thoughtfulness. He leaned forward and blew out the candles after making the same wish he'd made every year.

"Never thought we'd be around to reach thirty." Jake said with an amazed shrug as he cut the cake and handed his friend a large piece.

"Yeah. The way our life has been, we should have been dead many times over." Chance agreed. "Hmmm, this is great...homemade?" He asked, jokingly, enjoying the cake.

Jake snorted in amusement. "Oh sure...when would I have time." Chance laughed good-naturedly.

They ate the cake in companionable silence and watched some TV. As Chance was drinking his milk to wash down the rich dessert, his mind drifted to his wish.

"You know Jake, I'm not certain if this is my real birthday." He said wistfully.

Jake turned to look at him in surprise and a question in his eyes.

"I told you I was adopted, right?" Chance said, questioningly, glancing at his friend.

"Yeah!?" Jake said, wondering where this was going.

"Well, I never told you where I came from before that." The tabby said softly, looking off into the distance.

Jake said nothing, realizing Chance had something important to tell him. He reached for the remote and flicked off the TV then waited quietly.

"Unfortunately, no one else knows where I came from either. I was discovered, as a tiny kitten, laying under a bush in Megakat Park by a patrol Kat. You might say that was the first time I encountered an enforcer." He said chuckling at the memory before going on.

"My adopted parents told me, when I was about ten years old, what little history was known about me before I was taken to the orphanage. They said I was found swaddled in a beautiful blue blanket of a material no one recognized and totally naked except for an odd sort of necklace around my neck. The caretakers guessed my age as best they could and gave me a birthday based on the day I was found. I was adopted about two months later and given the name I have now." Chance said.

"Wow! That's a really interesting mystery, buddy. Do you still have the necklace?" Jake asked in fascination.

"Of course. I've carried it in my personal treasure chest all these years." Chance said with a shrug.

"Well, heck! You should have Dr. Sinian have a look at it." Jake said, getting excited.

Chance blinked in surprise. "You think I should?" He asked a bit hesitantly.

"Why not? Don't you want to know where you came from?" His friend asked.

"I...well...I don't know. Sometimes I do then other times I feel a strange reluctance...like something is warning me off." The tabby said reluctantly, spreading his paws in frustration that he couldn't explain the feeling any better than that.

"Hmmm, its possible that you're not supposed to know until a certain time. A lot of magical stuff acts like that." Jake said, thoughtfully.

"Oh no! I want nothing to do with magic." Chance said raising his paws in a warding off gesture.

"It was only a suggestion, buddy. But I'm serious about letting Dr. Sinian see your necklace. Heck, I'd like to see it myself." Jake said, excitement lighting his eyes.

"Sure, just a sec and I'll get it." Chance said with a smile. He got up from the couch and went upstairs to his bedroom. Minutes later, he returned holding a medium sized wooden box.

He set it on the coffee table and gently opened it. Jake could see various odds and ends...some of the objects were from his days in the enforcers, some kittenhood trinkets and other such things, but then his friend pulled out a small cloth bag. He pulled the strings back and poured something out that glinted in the light.

There in his palm lay a blue metallic chain. The links were shaped like little flowers. The medallion attached to the chain was in the shape of a multi-star with an odd stone that seemed to be a clear multifaceted crystal until you moved it then it took on an iridescent hue.

"Wow! I've never seen anything like that before." Jake said in an awestruck voice.

"Yeah, that's what everyone has said that I allow to see it." Chance said, absently as he felt the familiar weight after soo long.

"May I hold it?" Jake asked, tentatively reaching out to it.

"I...no...sorry...that's another thing about it. For whatever reason, I'm unable to allow anyone to handle it. My caretakers kept it for me until I was of age but once it was in my possession, I wouldn't let anyone touch it again." Chance said, a bit embarrassed, pulling his paws back.

"Sure no problem. Do you still have the blanket as well?" Jake asked, a little disappointed but even more captivated by this mystery surrounding his best friend.

"Yeah I do." He said with a smile. He carefully put the necklace away in its bag and placed it back into the box then reached in again for another more flat-shaped cloth bag. "One of the house mothers made these bags for me." Chance told him as he opened the flat bag and drew out a cloth that was breathtaking. It was a royal blue color with odd flower designs on it that matched the links on the necklace and some kind of foreign lettering along one side in silver thread. It shimmered like it was metallic and looked like silk.

"May I?" Jake asked cautiously.

"Sure." Chance said easily, letting the small blanket slide from his paws to Jake's.

Jake felt the fabric and still couldn't determine what it was made of. It was gorgeous and what was amazing, it was still vibrant despite being nearly thirty years old. It felt so smooth and soft in his paws. He reluctantly gave it back to his friend.

"This is amazing, Chance. Now I know we need to see the doc. She might have a clue as to who your people were." Jake told him.

"Well...I'll think about." Chance said a little reluctantly as he stowed the blanket away again.

"Sure buddy, I understand but it might give you the answer you're looking for on how old you really are." Jake said gently.

Chance just shrugged and went to put his box away. They went to bed and neither spoke of it again for some time.

Over the next few weeks, Chance began to have strange dreams. They weren't the usual stuff about fighting villains, being with a she-kat, or other more mundane things. No, these were so far out of his frame of reference that when he woke each morning he could only think he should stop reading science fiction comics for a while.

Unfortunately, as time passed the dreams became more vivid and harder to ignore. After a particularly fitful night of strange stuff, he was unusually grumpy at the breakfast table.

"What's up, Chance? You've been a little more irritable lately and this morning you look like you hadn't slept all night." Jake asked in concern.

Chance frowned. "I don't know what's going on. I've been having some real humdingers for dreams lately." He said, suddenly yawning. Shaking his head to clear it, he drank some coffee, hoping it would wake him up more. "I don't understand it but they have been getting more strange and weird every night but last night really took the cake."

"Oh...then why don't you tell me about it." Jake urged him. "We can't have you this disturbed. It would be dangerous for us as a team." He said seriously.

"Uhmm, well I didn't think of that. I don't remember a lot of it...just bits and pieces...you understand." Chance began, reluctantly.

Jake just nodded encouragingly.

"It always seems to start in this fantastic forest. The trees are taller than anything we have here and there are homes built in their broad branches. There are incredible flowers growing everywhere and strange creatures flitting about. Like those fairies you see on that fantasy show you like. I know there were other really weird creatures but I can't bring their images to mind now. Then I saw Kats but they weren't Kats exactly. They had wings and antenna on their heads like butterflies but they weren't small like them and their coat colors were iridescent. Crud! Jake. It sounds ridiculous when I speak of it out loud. I don't understand why I'm having such vivid dreams about a place I've never heard about, didn't see on TV or read about." Chance said, growling in annoyance.

Jake blinked. He had been captivated by Chance's descriptions. He shook himself. "I have no idea buddy. Never heard of anything like this before. And you say its been getting more intense every night?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah." The tabby shook his head. "I wish I knew how to turn it off."

"Well, taking a sleeping pill might do that. You can only try because, I gotta tell you...you looked really peaked right now." Jake said.

"Yeah, I feel so tired." Chance said, smothering another yawn.

"Look, we only have a couple of cars in the garage right now. Why don't you go try and take a nap. Hopefully, you won't have any dreams in the daytime." Jake suggested.

Chance growled but then sighed in resignation. "Yeah, guess I better. I'm just too tired to concentrate much." He got up and made his way back to bed.

Jake watched his friend leave in worried concern.

**Is Chance's past catching up with him? What's with the necklace? Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. Decided to take a break from Feral writing and see if I could do one on the guys. If I can keep this going, it should be an interesting ride, I hope. Your comments and suggestions would be very welcome. Ulyferal**


	2. Chapter 2

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 2: A Crossing of Two Worlds

Despite taking a nap, Chance still felt tired but at least the dreams had left him alone. He went down to the garage and found Jake trying to handle the garage. Instead of the two cars that had been waiting repair there were now six.

Sighing, he quickly pitched in, much to Jake's relief. They worked diligently throughout the day and succeeded in getting their work done by closing. It was a relief not to have an emergency pull them away.

Jake locked up the garage as Chance filed the last of their paperwork. They decided to go catch a bite in town. It had been awhile and they could use the break. They took quick showers and dressed casually.

"Where you want to go eat, buddy?" Chance asked as he climbed into the driver's side of their tow truck.

"Hmm, how about that new Chinese place over on Tagger Ave?"

"Okay, sounds good to me."

Chance drove through the gates of the salvage yard and they headed to town. They were nearly at their destination when something flashed across their path. He stamped on the brakes, bringing them to a jolting stop.

"Wha....." Jake blurted in shock. "What the heck, Chance! Why did you stop like that?" He asked looking around to see if there was anything in front of them but he could see nothing but ordinary traffic. Fortunately, there were no cars in their lane.

Shaking his head in confusion, Chance quickly began to drive again. "I swear I saw something, Jake. It flew past really fast so I didn't get a good look at it but I swear something was there."

The cinnamon tom just shook his head. "Well, I certainly didn't see anything. Hope you're not starting to see things besides the dreams you've been having." He said in concern.

Chance scowled. "I know I saw something."

"Okay." Jake knew better than to push his partner when he got like this but it didn't stop him from being concerned.

They finally reached the restaurant and got to eat a really nice meal. When they left, Chance was in a better mood and the incident was forgotten or, at least, it wasn't mentioned again.

Dusk was falling as they drove home. Chance pulled into the yard and parked. They got out and went up to their apartment.

Chance stretched and flicked on the TV as he dropped onto their ratty looking couch. Jake sighed and grabbed a magazine he'd been reading and settled into the nearby overstuffed chair.

It was peaceful for more than an hour until their alarm went off. Jumping to their feet, they practically flew down the stairs. Chance grabbed the phone.

"Yes, Ms. Briggs?"

"T-Bone, I was just leaving city hall when I heard screams coming from across the street. I saw a couple of patrol kats run into Megakat Park but seconds later they came out screaming and they were followed by this weird looking creature. I think you'd better get down here and have a look. It's trashing cars so its no weakling." Callie shouted in concern. Behind her voice, he could hear the screams and crashes.

"Be right there Ms. Briggs." Chance said quickly then hung up. "You heard?"

"Yeah. Let's hustle." Jake said grimly as he turned and made for their hidden hatch to the hangar below.

They were dressed and in the air less than ten minutes after Ms. Briggs' call.

Meanwhile, Calico Briggs had taken refuge within the lobby of city hall. She stared at the nasty creature that hadn't left its location. It stood about seven feet tall, had thick muscular arms that reached nearly to its knees, its face was a hideous caricature of a kat with super long fangs hanging out either side of its mouth. It had ears that were really long, legs that were thick and muscular, and it was nearly hairless only sprouts of growth spread over its entire body and its skin was a nearly greenish black color.

Sirens wailed and the enforcers screeched to a halt in front of the thing. Feral's cruiser came up fast and slammed to an abrupt halt in front of city hall. He climbed out of his vehicle and began to shout orders. His enforcers quickly blocked the street at both ends.

'He'd obviously ordered them to fire at the creature,' Callie thought, because as soon as they got out of their vehicles they began firing their lasers.

Unfortunately, the ugly looking creature reacted hardly at all so Feral had gas grenades fired as well as a missile, he himself fired from a bazooka. Absolutely nothing affected the thing, it shrugged off everything as if the munitions were nothing more than bothersome flies.

Feral looked like he was calling for backup, as he had his radio to his mouth but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Suddenly a roar filled the air and a familiar missile shot down spreading a special netting. The SWAT Kats had arrived.

"Crud! What the heck is that?" T-Bone shouted as he pulled the Turbokat around for another pass. "Your spider chain net had no effect. It just shredded it."

"I know. I'm going to try something else." Razor growled distractedly. "Tarpedo away!" He barked as he fired with deadly accuracy a new missile at the creature.

It hit the thing's face and plastered it with tar. The creature simply raised a paw and passed it over it's face. The tar vanished.

"Did you see that?" T-Bone blurted in shock.

"Magic!" Razor snarled angrily. "It's using magic. We don't have anything that can affect that."

"Magic?" T-Bone asked uneasily. "But there's no sign of the Pastmaster and we know its not Mad Kat again, this isn't his call mark."

"I don't know buddy, but we're in trouble here. Strange, though.......that thing isn't doing anything but standing there......its as if it were guarding something....." Razor muttered thoughtfully. "T-Bone fly over the park near where that thing is standing. Let's see if it is protecting something there."

"Roger."

T-Bone sent the jet in a slow turn and came back over the park from the rear of the big creature. Dusk was already falling but they could just make out the surrounding area fairly well.

"There! What's that?" Razor shouted, commenting on a strange light emanating some twenty feet from the thing.

T-Bone didn't say anything as he maneuvered the jet over the spot then lowered them by VTOL enough to see the phenomenon more closely.

It looked like a glowing door almost, like the ones the Pastmaster's watch created whenever he was trying to escape them. He didn't always use a tornado though most thought he did. Admittedly, he did prefer that method but they had seen him use a portal similar to this a couple of times.

"It looks like a method the Pastmaster has used but somehow I don't think so." Razor said, frowning.

As they watched, several dark things slid through the portal and moved swiftly away from the thing guarding the portal and into the park. The portal snapped shut and vanished. Almost immediately, they caught sight of the odd guardian also making a run into the park with enforcers hot on his trail.

The SWAT Kats turned about swiftly and followed using bright spot lights to illuminate the area better but to their shock, the things had simply vanished. The park in this area was not heavily treed, mostly lawns and such until one went deeper into it, nonetheless, the things were no longer visible.

T-Bone halted the jet again in consternation. Searching in the dark would be pointless since they had no idea where to start looking and the things blended too well in the dark to be seen. They could see Feral beginning a more meticulous search.

"We'd better let him do the search. Nothing we can do until they spot something." Razor said heavily.

"Want we should stay around?" T-Bone asked.

"Yeah......just in case they do find it, though I'm not sure what we'd be able to do against magic." Razor said sourly.

T-Bone grunted in response and continued to hover over the searching enforcers shedding as much light as he could over the area to aid their search as did some of Feral's choppers that he'd called in.

Some two hours later and the search was called off. No trace of the mysterious creatures could be found. They heard Feral order a cordon on the park just in case. He headed back to city hall and his vehicle but halted when Ms. Briggs hailed him.

She had waited in her car and did paperwork, waiting to see what the search would find, if anything. When Feral reappeared walking to his sedan, she got out of her car to speak with him.

"Anything, Commander?"

"They vanished. We could find no trace of that thing and whatever else might have come through that strange portal we saw. I've ordered my enforcers to cordon off the park for now. I would like you to hold a press conference tomorrow and have the Katizens stay away from the park for now." Feral said unhappily.

"Alright. Keep me informed. That didn't look like anything of the Pastmasters." She commented with a frown.

"No, it didn't feel like him either." Feral rumbled, looking uneasy. "It used magic that's all we know. How we're going to fight it when everything we have just runs off it like water is something I'm going to have to discuss with my R&D personnel and the eggheads at Pumadyne."

"Good idea. I'd also suggest you check with Dr. Sinian. She might have something in those old books of hers that describes that thing." Callie said thoughtfully.

"Hmm, worth a shot." Feral sighed and nodded. He frowned and stared back at the park. "We have enough trouble around here without something new showing up. Especially magic." He growled irritably. "Go home Ms. Briggs. Tomorrow is going to be a hectic day."

She snorted but agreed that was a good assessment of what she would be dealing with when she told the Mayor about this and the press tomorrow morning. She waved farewell at him and went back to her car.

Feral headed to his sedan and looked up as he heard the sound of the SWAT Kats jet leaving the area. Normally, he'd be pissed about them interfering but magic made him nervous and tense ever since that time he was Mad Kat's prisoner. Right now, he wouldn't refuse any help. This was not going to be as easy as taking out their other omegas. He had a bad feeling this was just the beginning of something really nasty.

Sighing unhappily, he climbed into his car and left for Enforcer Headquarters.

Back at their hangar, Razor was echoing Feral's feelings about something truly bad coming down on the city.

"I don't like it, Chance. My fur is bristling just thinking about some new magical enemy. We've never been anything but lucky taking out the only two magical omegas we've dealt with. I've never been happy about my inability to invent something that would work against it." Jake growled unhappily as he and his partner changed clothes.

"I know. It gives me the creeps." Chance said but there was a strange look on his face as well.

"What's up, Chance?" Jake asked curiously.

Chance just shook his head. "Nothing." Refusing to discuss the odd feeling he got when he thought about that strange creature. For some reason, it looked familiar to him.

Mentally, he shuddered. 'Crud! This stuff is giving me the heebeejeebees......first my dreams, now this.' He quickly shoved the whole thing to the back of his mind. He really didn't want to deal with it now.

_**Later that night.......Megakat Park.......near the more wilder section......**_

In the dark and silent park, a small group of creatures gathered around one very large one. Their black eyes could see in the dark as if it were daylight.

"You know what to do! Get busy and return before daylight to this shelter." The huge shadow rumbled like rocks in a grinder.

Small hideous giggling sounds were heard then the smaller creatures ran off toward the city hall entrance of the park.

The huge figure turned and ducked into a cave hidden among some thick brush, vanishing from sight.

The small creatures hurried to the edge of the park, going invisible just before they reached the enforcer cordon then silently slipping by the oblivious Kats. Crossing the street, one group went up the stairs of city hall while another group went racing down the street to fulfill their unknown mission.

_**Sometime after midnight.........salvage yard apartment.........**_

Chance woke up with tears on his face, an inexplicable feeling of loss in his heart and the word _mother_ on his lips. Now awake, all he could remember was that thing in the park chasing someone holding him, as a kitten, tightly against their chest.

The female was terrified and it made him scared as well. His ears could hear that thing roaring with other nasty and giggling sounds following them. Suddenly there was a bright light then blessed silence.

The female sobbed in relief and dropped to her knees still holding him. For a long moment they stayed that way then she kissed his face tenderly as tears fell from her cheeks to dampen his fur. Then she did something that frightened him even more, she laid him under a thick bush, whispered goodbye and disappeared. That feeling of terrible loss was what sent him crying awake.

He wiped his face and stared unseeingly out his window.

'What is going on? Am I going mad?' He thought fearfully. No answers came to him in the dark of his room.


	3. Chapter 3

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 3: Unraveling a Mystery

The next morning, Chance came down groggy and depressed. Jake came in from the living room with his cereal bowl and froze as he got a good look at his partner.

"Chance? Buddy, what's wrong?"

The tabby looked at him then turned away as he mindlessly rummaged in the cupboard but wasn't really seeing what he was doing.

Jake put his bowl in the sink then reached out to his friend, touching his arm and making Chance look at him.

"Chance?" He begged softly, extremely worried now.

The tabby's shoulders slumped and he gave up looking in the cupboard. He wasn't hungry anyway. He took a seat at the table and put his head in his paws.

"Remember those dreams........." He said heavily without looking up.

Jake sat down next to his buddy. "Yeah......."

"Well, last night I dreamed of a beautiful she-kat running for her life carrying a kitten tightly in her arms. Something hideous was chasing her then suddenly she seemed to step through a glowing portal and she was here.......in Megakat Park. She hugged the kitten and dropped to her knees and cried. After a long moment, she kissed the kitten and whispered goodbye then left it under a bush and vanished in the night." Chance said, his voice thick with pain. He looked up and there were tears in his eyes. "It was me, Jake. It was me she left there and I cried in terror when she left. It woke me up. I'm almost afraid I'm losing my mind."

Jake stared at him in shocked dismay. He was silent for some minutes before saying, "Chance, you told me you were found in Megakat Park under a bush. You're not crazy. It sounds like your subconscious mind has remembered this little bit of your past."

Chance stared at him in anguish. "Then she abandoned me. She didn't want to......I know she didn't but whatever it was chasing her, it wasn't safe for me to be with her. Gods, I wonder if she's still alive."

"I don't know buddy. I hope she is. She did a brave thing giving up her kitten in hopes he would be safe and she was right." Jake said comfortingly.

"But why didn't she come back? Why was I left here to grow up not knowing who I am?" Chance demanded angrily.

Jake sighed and shook his head. "I don't know buddy. But perhaps the answer can be found in the things she left you. I really think you should see Dr. Sinian."

The tabby rubbed his face in indecision. His friend was right. He needed answers and there was no one to ask. Something else bothered him as well.

"I.......Jake.....that glowing door looked like the one my mother came through and the monster we saw......I.....I don't know why......but it feels familiar to me."

Jake frowned. 'Okay, this is getting really weird and with magic involved.. crud....what does it all mean and what's Chance's part in it?' He wondered to himself. He looked at his friend.

"Chance, this has me really concerned. I don't like the fact we have some kind of magical enemy that might be from where you came from, stepping into our world. I've got a bad feeling we're heading for trouble worse than all our omegas combined. And all we've got to go on is what's in your head and the artifacts left with you."

Chance growled and put his paws to both sides of his head. "I don't like this! Somewhere in here is the answer but I don't like those hypnosis guys."

"And I don't suggest we go that route either. We have secrets we can't let an outsider know about." Jake agreed. "So our only choice is to take those artifacts to Dr. Sinian today. Those creatures are up to something and we're going to know it soon enough so we have little time to find out what we can." He said firmly.

"Okay, I agree we've got to have an answer but do we go as the SWAT Kats or as ourselves?" Chance asked, sighing in resignation.

Jake paused and thought about that. "Damn. Now that's a problem. You were Chance when you were left but T-Bone is the one who has to fight these things." He paused then after thinking a little more, he came to a decision. "We'll go as the SWAT Kats. We just tell Sinian you were left as a kitten. No more should be necessary to find out about what we need to know." 'I hope!' He thought to himself.

Checking the time, Jake noted the Museum should be opening soon. They needed to catch Dr. Sinian before she got too busy with her day. Putting up a note that said they were gone on a tow, they went down into the hangar and very soon were on their way by cyclotrons. They decided they needed to maintain a low profile so left the Turbokat.

They didn't know it, but that had been a good decision.

Arriving at the Museum, they parked the bikes out of sight among some heavy shrubbery next to the main building and set their security. Using his glovatrix, Razor got them into a side entrance. They slipped past the single guard who was just going off duty and headed for the offices on the second floor.

They lucked out, finding Dr. Sinian enjoying a cup of coffee and checking her mail at her desk in her spacious office. They slipped in and closed the door behind them.

"SWAT Kats! What are you doing here this morning?" She asked in surprise.

They walked to her desk. T-Bone pulled the precious bundles from his G-suit.

"I need your help, Dr. Sinian. These artifacts I'm holding are all that's left of a heritage that has to do with my past. I was abandoned as a kitten in Megakat Park under strange circumstances." T-Bone began. He explained his dreams, especially the one last night.

Razor told her of the strange creatures now roaming Megakat City and their concern for what they might be up to and a suspicion that something in T-Bone's past might be a link to it.

Abby Sinian leaned back in her chair and stared at them both for a long moment.

"What are these artifacts, T-Bone?" She finally asked.

T-Bone opened the first bag with the unusual blanket and laid it on the doctor's desk. Abby leaned forward and carefully picked it up.

"Ohh.....how beautiful." She said as she noted how soft it was. "I've never seen cloth like this before. This symbol is very unusual. Strange........I think I may have seen it before." She murmured thoughtfully, studying the symbol more closely. "Hmm, let me see the other item you have." She said laying the blanket down carefully.

T-Bone gently poured the necklace out into his palm from the second bag. She began to reach for it and he immediately closed his fist over it.

"I'm sorry. It's an automatic reaction of mine to never let anyone else touch this. I really can't say why." He said, blushing a bit in embarrassment but still not allowing her to touch as he opened his palm again, letting her take a closer look.

Abby, eyed T-Bone a moment, a thoughtful look on her face before turning her attention to the necklace. It too was something too unusual to be from this world and that sparked the memory she'd been trying to dredge up from her mind.

"Yes......I think I've seen this before.....just a moment......" She got up from her seat and hurried over to a locked cabinet full of very old books and parchments. She unlocked it and carefully pulled out a book bound in black leather and a scroll tied with a red ribbon.

She took the items over to a cleared table, pulled out some special gloves and gently began to turn the pages of the book.

"This was from Queen Callista's time. It's been handed down through generations until it ended up here." She told them absently as she continued to search for something.

Time slipped past, but neither SWAT Kat hurried the doctor. They had moved to her side and were staring down at the illuminated text and gold leafed pages. Drawings still held their colors after all this time and were beautiful to look at.

She'd slowly gone through nearly the entire book before she halted. "Yes, here it is. Hmm.....it's a report by a court seneschal about some visitors to the Queen. He says they were very fair....meaning beautiful but had a dangerous air about them.....not certain what he means by that ...they called themselves the Fae and told Queen Callista they were from another realm. They were visiting because they were bored and were interested in seeing other places and people. Queen Callista welcomed them and soon a budding friendship began......" Dr. Sinian flipped pages again "........here it says after the Queen's death, the Fae came no more and gave no explanation as to why. Here's a rendition of what one of them looked like....." She said pointing at an image of a male.

T-Bone and Razor leaned closer and stared at the image. The tabby felt a shiver of recognition sweep over him. The male was lean, had golden fur, piercing blue eyes and flowing silvery hair cascading down his back. He wore rich clothing of silver and blue with jewels and precious metals. He was ethereally beautiful resembling nothing like Kats of their world. His eyes were far too big and had rings of color rather than one. In his case, a core of deep blue circled by two lighter rings of differing colors of blue. But his most outstanding feature were his huge silvery wings. He also carried a thin rapier type sword in a richly jeweled sheathe at his side.

"Wow! There's no such creatures living here, that's for certain." Razor breathed in awe.

"No, not here.....but in a realm of incomparable beauty and light as well as places of darkness and evil." T-Bone murmured distantly.

Razor and Dr. Sinian stared at T-Bone in shocked surprise. The tabby's face had a faraway look on it as if he were remembering something.

"T-Bone?" Razor asked softly.

His partner shook his head in distraction. He frowned as if puzzled. "What?" He asked, confused.

"You spoke just now. You described a place as if you knew it." Razor said carefully.

T-Bone looked at his partner in surprise. "I did?"

"Yes, but I wonder if it has something to do with that necklace you're clutching so tightly?" Dr. Sinian asked.

Everyone looked down at T-Bone's paw. Razor hissed in shock.......his buddy's paw was bleeding.

"T-Bone....." He cried, reaching for his friend's paw.

The tabby raised it up as if seeing it for the first time. He slowly opened his fist that he'd been holding tight. Blood slowly seeped from a cut made by the sharp edges of the medallion.

Razor tried to grab hold of him to see the wound better but T-Bone pulled away.

"No, its alright, just a scratch. Didn't know I was holding it so tightly." He said, wondering why he'd done such a thing.

"T-Bone, what do you feel when you hold that?" Dr. Sinian asked, slowly.

"Uh....I don't know."

"Close your eyes and picture it in your mind and just feel for a moment. It's important." She said with a small smile when she saw him wanting to refuse.

Thinking it was silly, T-Bone tried to do as she asked. At first all he could feel was the small pain in his palm but then he began to feel a warmth that increased and an image of a beautiful female invaded his mind for just a moment then was gone when he gasped and broke his concentration.

"What did you feel?" Abby asked again.

"It.......at first it was just cool then it got warmer and suddenly an image came into my head. It was my mother.......she's beautiful and has those same strange eyes as that guy in the book except hers were different shades of green." He said, badly shaken.

Razor stared at his friend as if he was seeing him for the first time. Dr. Sinian just nodded her head.

"I think it is safe to say this necklace is from the visitors to Queen Callista's court. The certainty is in this picture......." She picked up the scroll and unrolled it carefully. "See, the last seneschal at the time of the Queen's death drew this medallion that he'd seen on the last visitor to come to Megalith City." She said solemnly.

The two toms stared down at the image and then back at the necklace in T-Bone's paw.....they were a perfect match.


	4. Chapter 4

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 4: Fremlins!

"What does all this mean?" T-Bone asked more of himself then Dr. Sinian but she answered anyway.

"From the evidence, it's fairly clear that this necklace comes from another realm, quite possibly the one you witnessed your mother arrive from, T-Bone."

The tabby blinked in bewilderment. Everything was happening too fast and he had a very bad feeling deep inside him that he was at the center of this, whatever it was.

"T-Bone?" Razor asked in concern, reaching out to touch his partner on his arm.

His friend blinked behind his mask and looked down at the medallion for a long moment. "What do I do now? I've never believed in this mumbo-jumbo stuff but ever since the Pastmaster and Mad Kat I've been forced to believe that magic is real but now I'm being forced to believe in a world outside our own....." He trailed off, shaking his head violently.

"Why should that be so difficult, buddy? We've dealt with aliens, other dimensions, ancient mummies, and other totally weird stuff. This is just more of the same." Razor said, trying to put this in perspective.

"Yeah, I know! So when I say I can sense something really bad is coming our way that will make our omegas look like kittens playing war, would you believe me?" T-Bone growled, his voice bitter and afraid.

Razor and Dr. Sinian stared at him and felt cold chills run up their spines. T-Bone was deadly serious.

Frowning, the smaller SWAT Kat asked, "You were a kitten when you were abandoned here, how is it you know so much already? I mean, you said earlier to me, that you may have recognized the things that came through the portal and now you're telling us we're in for a terrible war but how do you know this?"

T-Bone sighed and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I....don't.....know!" He gritted out. "I just feel it and my dreams.......". He stopped unable to continue.

"Your dreams and that medallion are keys to your past, T-Bone. I suspect that medallion is more than a piece of jewelry and that there is a very good reason it was left with you." Dr. Sinian ventured cautiously.

Both SWAT Kats stared at her questioningly.

"I'm only guessing but from all the clues you've been giving me, I think the medallion is a memory tool. Your mother may have wanted you to know who and what you are so left this as a learning tool. When you hold it, you've seen her and its quite possible that if you don't break its hold on you, it might convey to you all the answers you seek." She said.

T-Bone's mouth gaped and he stared down at the medallion again. If she was right, he would have to allow the medallion to mess with his mind and that thought left him cold.

"I don't like that idea much, letting a hunk of metal control me......." He swallowed nervously.

"Not control you, T-Bone. I'm fairly certain it is only a **memory** tool. You've had it for years and I'm certain you've handled it from time to time and nothing bad has happened to you. The fact that you won't let anyone else touch it, tells me strongly that it is protecting itself by warning you subliminally that it is meant only for you and to let no one else near it. If you want your answers, it's the only thing that will give them to you." Dr. Sinian insisted, certain she was on the right track.

T-Bone was about to object again when their emergency signal went off. Almost in relief, he shoved the medallion back in its bag then into an inner pocket of his g-suit.

"Duty calls! Sorry doc, we've got to go. Thanks for the info and I'll think about what you said." He assured her as he and Razor raced away to respond to whatever emergency Callie was summoning them for.

Abi sighed as they raced away. She really didn't blame T-Bone for being afraid. That medallion could reveal a secret he may very well not want to know because it could change his whole life but she too had a bad feeling that if he denied his heritage, whatever that was, Megakat City could suffer a terrible fate. She decided she would continue to research everything she could about these 'Fae' creatures and be ready when T-Bone needed her.

The SWAT Kats raced outside and only then did Razor respond to the signal. "Yes, Ms. Briggs?"

"Razor, there's been a report of machines going wild at Pumadyne. Feral is already on the scene. Hard Drive is suspected but no ones seen him yet." Callie told him.

"Roger, Ms. Briggs. We'll check it out." Razor told her and broke the connection.

"I could have done without that techno creep showing up again." T-Bone growled in annoyance.

Razor grimaced. "Yeah, he's a pain alright. Let's get over to Pumadyne and see if we can catch him before he gets away."

"Roger."

When they reached their cyclotrons, they disengaged the security systems and climbed aboard. T-Bone turned on his engine and cranked the throttle but suddenly there was a strange sound from beneath him and the next thing he knew the whole bike was shuddering. With seconds to spare, the tabby immediately leaped off just as the bike blew apart.

Parts flew everywhere and burned the back of the burly pilot as he huddled into a ball on the ground to protect himself as much as he could.

Razor meanwhile had already abandoned his own bike without starting it, throwing himself to the side away from T-Bone's exploding one.

When all was silent again, T-Bone carefully got up and winced at the pain from a couple of nasty burns on his right arm and one leg. Laying everywhere was the exploded pieces of his bike.

"What the heck happened?" He blurted in shocked dismay.

Razor's face was grim as he went back to his own bike and began to examine it thoroughly.

After many long minutes of searching through what he could see without taking the bike apart, he finally said, "On the surface, our bikes look perfectly alright but when I looked closer, I found broken connections everywhere."

"Crap! How the heck could that have happened?" T-Bone said in bewilderment.

Razor gritted his teeth. "I don't know. I always check our equipment every day. I swear there had been nothing wrong with either bike and our security systems were still engaged so how did someone manage to touch them in the first place? It just doesn't make sense." He said angrily.

"Great! So our bikes are down, want to risk summoning the Turbokat?" T-Bone asked tensely.

Razor thought a moment. "No one should have been able to find our jet, so let's give it a try." He said cautiously. He engaged his glovatrix remote control unit.

After ten minutes, they were relieved to see the Turbokat arrive and go to hover above them. Razor guided the jet to a landing behind the museum. They loaded the remaining cyclotron into the cargo hold for later study. Climbing into the cockpit, T-Bone soon had them winging their way to Pumadyne.

Chaos greeted them on their arrival. Excited Kats were running everywhere trying to halt various machinery and vehicles from running amuck.

"What the heck?" T-Bone exclaimed as he circled the facility.

"Switch to the enforcer channel, buddy. Let's hear what's going on." Razor ordered

A familiar voice was bellowing orders and they could hear frustration in it. "Run those things down and stop them. Has anyone seen who started these things?" Dozens of negative responses were heard. "Look out for that........" Feral's voice was cut off as an enforcer tank ran into the guard post near the front gate and kept going.

"Feral, is that thing unmanned?" Razor shouted into his com.

"What tha......SWAT Kats!" Came his snarled response. At first it seemed like he wasn't going to answer as the tank kept heading for an electrical tower that supplied power to Pumadyne. "Stop it but try not to damage it beyond repair." Feral finally ground out.

"Oh sure! Now how do you plan to do that, Razor?" T-Bone grunted as he turned the jet to catch up with the tank.

"Actually that's not impossible." Razor muttered as he studied his weapons display. "Plain old missile away." He sang out.

The missile shot out and soared over the tank to hit the ground just a few yards ahead of it forming a giant hole. The tank continued on its path until it tumbled into the hole stopping it cold but not damaging it too severely.

"Mission accomplished. One intact tank." Razor crowed triumphantly.

Feral had been watching and had to admit the SWAT Kats solution had been a good one. Unfortunately, that only solved one problem, he had many of them all over the place to deal with.

"Commander, what is going on and how can we help?" T-Bone called him.

"I'm not certain you two hotshots can handle this. Everything mechanical and electrical around here has gone completely bonkers. People have been pulling plugs right and left shutting everything down before the damage is irreversible. As for the vehicles, someone or something has started every engine without benefit of a key and put them in drive." Feral growled out in frustration.

"Well, you're right that we have nothing to help you with that except to corral anymore fleeing tanks, but we could come down and help look for the culprits." Razor suggested.

"I already have enforcers doing that......." Feral snapped.

"Yeah, but it seems they are involved in rounding up vehicles at the moment and keeping the personnel out of harms way." Razor observed.

Feral sighed audibly. The smallest SWAT Kat had a point much as it pained him to admit it. "Fine, check the perimeter and see if you spot anyone making a get away then you can poke around here but don't get in the way." He told them flatly. "My chopper squadrons are also canvassing the area. They are south and north of Pumadyne."

"I see them. We'll do north and east. It'll speed up the search time." T-Bone told him.

Feral just grunted an acknowledgment and they heard him notify his choppers of the added support.

Over the next thirty minutes, the search was on for suspicious characters but none was found. The SWAT Kats stopped two more tanks before landing and trying to find anything on foot.

Peace finally reigned over the facility and the searchers gathered at the front entrance. Feral's chopper and Felina's were the only things on the ground besides the Turbokat.

When everyone gave their reports of failure to find the culprit for what was going on, Feral ordered Felina to go back to headquarters and see if she could find out the whereabouts of Hard Drive.

"I somehow doubt Hard Drive is at fault here, Commander. It just isn't his style." Razor said, shaking his head.

"We have to start somewhere and whose to say Dark Kat isn't behind this!" Feral growled.

"Well that's certainly true........" Razor began to say when there was a loud whine then the ground shook, the sound of something hitting the ground hard made them turn around and witness Felina's chopper laying tilted at a crazy angle, the rotor half off of it.

"Felina!" Feral bellowed in fear and raced to the downed craft.

To his relief, Felina was alright and was coming around the chopper where she had bailed out to safety. He walked up to her, looking her over for any injuries.

"Felina, are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Uncle." She said staring at the downed chopper.

"What the heck happened, Lieutenant?" T-Bone asked.

"Everything seemed normal until I actually took off then the rotor whined and shuddered, my controls locked up and I lost control. I bailed out just in time before it hit the ground." Felina said shaking her head in bewilderment.

"Okay, that's just creepy and way too familiar." Razor said, unhappily.

Feral turned to him and demanded, "What do you mean familiar?"

"Just before we came here. We had taken our cyclotrons to see Dr. Sinian about something and when we were leaving, I started my bike and it blew up. Razor checked his and found all the wire connections had been pulled or destroyed." T-Bone explained.

"The strange thing is our security system was still engaged so how did the culprit mess with them? And I can tell you, I always check our equipment thoroughly. They were in perfect working order when we'd arrived." Razor said flatly, still upset someone could do this without them knowing it.

"None of this makes any sense." Felina huffed in frustration.

"You're right about that. We'd better check your chopper Commander and our jet since they've been on the ground long enough to be messed with." Razor warned.

"But we haven't seen anyone who shouldn't be here and, besides, there have been enforcers and security all over the place for the past hour!" Feral objected.

"Yeah, but do you want to be a casualty because we guessed wrong?" Razor said bluntly as he moved to their jet.

Feral sighed and decided to err on the side of caution. He and Felina went to his chopper and looked it over carefully. They were dismayed to find multiple tiny things broken that would have dominoed into massive failure that would have brought down the chopper.

"Razor was right, Uncle." Felina said, grimly. Feral growled in frustration and abandoned his chopper to walk toward the Turbokat.

He leaped up onto the wing and leaned his head into the cockpit. "Find anything amiss? My chopper had multiple damage done to it." He told Razor whose body he could see under the weapon's console. T-Bone wasn't in view.

Razor's voice floated up to them, "Yeah, lots of little things that would have snowballed into a jet falling from the sky."

T-Bone's head popped up beside Razor from the cargo hold. His face a mask of fury.

"I'd like to catch these guys. It's a mess down there but you really have to look hard to find it." He ground out, absolutely furious that someone dared to touch his pride and joy.

Feral frowned. 'Okay, so it isn't just us that's being affected but what the heck is?' He wondered to himself.

Razor popped out from under the console, his face grim and angry. "You can write off Hard Drive for this Commander. We know he's not capable of this nor has anyone seen him here at all."

"For once I have to agree with you, SWAT Kat! So what is doing this?" Feral asked angrily.

No one said a thing for a long moment. Something tickled in the back of T-Bone's mind. He tried to ignore it but it persisted so he closed his eyes and waited. Suddenly an image of one of the small ugly figures that had come from the portal flashed into his mind along with a name.

"Fremlins?!!!" He blurted aloud.

The rest blinked and stared at him in bewilderment.

"What are Fremlins?" His partner finally asked in confusion.

T-Bone blushed and felt incredibly stupid but he couldn't brush away the image nor the information he'd gotten with it of what the creatures were and what they could do.

"Fremlins are those creatures that came through the portal last night. They can become invisible, are mechanically inclined, and have a penchant for causing mischief." He explained.

They all stared at him. Feral at least thought the SWAT Kat **had **lost his mind. "You're crazy! Where did you hear something like that and how would you know what those creatures were?" He demanded suspiciously. If he found out the SWAT Kats were responsible for those things, they would be behind bars in a heartbeat.

His partner stared at him in concern. He had a feeling the medallion had been responsible for giving his friend the information he needed. Now wasn't the time to ask him though, not when Feral was listening in.

T-Bone gritted his teeth. He didn't want anyone to know about that yet until he'd had time to process what they'd learned from Dr. Sinian. So how were they going to get away from Feral when their jet was out of commission?

Before he had to say something, an alert came over the enforcer radio in Feral's pocket. He drew it out and responded. "Feral, here!"

"Sir! All our equipment and computers are going haywire here! Don't know how long our radios are going to........" The dispatcher was cut off and the radio simply spat static.

"Now my headquarters is affected!" Feral bellowed then looked hard at T-Bone.

"If these Fremlins are responsible, how do we see them to defeat or capture them?" He demanded, deciding to believe the burly pilot for the moment not having any other explanations to go on.

"Uhhh........I don't know!" T-Bone said, spreading his paws helplessly.

"Wonderful!" Feral snarled sarcastically. After giving the SWAT Kat a scathing look he stalked off to gather his troops then called for backup and made sure not one of the choppers left their sight as they loaded for the trip back to headquarters. Felina gave them a lingering look before running after her uncle.

The SWAT Kats stood in silence as they watched the enforcers finally leave the area.

"Don't say it, Razor." T-Bone said tightly, his fists clenched.

"But, T-Bone, you've already opened Pandora's box as it were, when you mentioned creatures no one has heard of. You can't ignore it and Feral certainly isn't going to let it go. You have to deal with this because it looks like only you know what might be going on." Razor said, ignoring his partner's anger.

"Don't' you think I know that! I just don't like being forced to do something against my will and letting that medallion 'talk' to me is doing just that!" The tiger tom spat at his friend angrily.

"I know, I'm sorry, T-Bone." Razor said softly, wishing he could help T-Bone better but everything was up to the tiger tom, all he could do was stand by him and offer his support.

T-Bone didn't respond and stared blindly toward the city where a war had apparently begun and only he had the key to why and who.

_**Author's Notes: I researched fairy creatures and used them for this story, changing their names a bit. I'll give a little explanation at the end of each chapter that gives a new creature.**_

_**FREMLINS - Proper name Gremlins - fictional mischievous creatures. They are portrayed as mechanically oriented and extremely devious as well as destructive. For the purpose of my story they are working on behalf of the Black Fae King.**_

_**The FAE - Other names are Shidhe, Seelie, Fairy. The two sides of this conflict will be called the Black and White Fae. The Black Fae King and the White Fae Queen.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 5: A City in Chaos

It took T-Bone and Razor the better part of two hours to repair the Turbokat enough to be able to fly it back to the hangar. Neither said much to the other. T-Bone brooded the whole trip back home.

When they flew into the hangar and waited for the turntable to carry them up to the main floor, their alarm went off.

T-Bone groaned. 'Oh great, what next?' He thought unhappily. "Yes, Ms. Briggs?"

"T-Bone, thank goodness this comm works because nothing else does. City hall is basically shut down since everything has gone crazy. The elevators keep opening and shutting their doors then going up and down without stopping, trapping Kats inside. Computers and phones, anything electrical is acting wacky. I was hoping you guys knew what was going on?" She asked, fear and worry in her voice.

'Oh God! It's spreading!' Razor thought, anxiously.

"Sorry, Ms. Briggs we're not sure." T-Bone lied. No way did he want Callie to know that a creature called a Fremlin was probably responsible, not without proof anyway.

Razor raised his eyebrows at T-Bone's omission but didn't call him on it, instead he spoke to Callie himself. "We've just suffered the same problems. First our cyclotrons then our jet. The same problems afflicted Pumadyne and Feral was called back to Enforcer Headquarters because the same thing was happening there. We've got no answers except that it may have a lot to do with our mysterious magical invaders from last night."

"Oh, that's right! Those things were magical and still hadn't been found." Callie moaned. "How are we going to deal with this? Feral and I discussed this very thing last night on how we had no defense against magic and he was going to check with Pumadyne and hopefully Dr. Sinian for answers. Obviously, he didn't get anything at Pumadyne if they came under attack as well." She said unhappily.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to do some digging of our own, Ms. Briggs. Get back to you, if we come up with anything." Razor assured her.

"Thanks, Razor. Good luck! I think we're all going to need it." She said, worriedly, then cut her connection.

T-Bone shot the canopy open and jumped down. His shoulders were slumped and he wouldn't look at his partner.

Razor had wanted to discuss the problem but now he realized it was all too much for his friend right now. The tabby needed space to think so Razor decided to leave him be for now. He just hoped they had enough time left for his friend to come to terms with what had to be done.

He changed his clothes and headed upstairs. They had work still to do in the garage as well as repair the Turbokat and cyclotrons.

It was late afternoon, when they'd finished the few cars that were in the garage. The owners picked them up within the hour they were called, so they were able to close the yard and garage. They grabbed some take out then went down to the hangar and began to work on the jet.

It was sometime after midnight when the jet and their bikes were in operational order once more. Tired and dirty, they took showers and dropped off to sleep quickly.

Chance had taken to actually wearing the medallion ever since their visit to Dr. Sinian. But he couldn't bring himself to submit to the undeniable pull of the medallion calling him. As he slept though, more images of people, places, and creatures poured into his mind.

He whimpered in his sleep but didn't waken. By morning, his head was filled with information he couldn't sort out. It was all jumbled and left him grumpy and angry.

Jake eyed him cautiously. His friend did not look good this morning which meant he'd been having those dreams again and probably much more than that now. It solidified his suspicions that the medallion was trying to teach Chance.

Chance shoved some bread in the toaster and grabbed a can of milk. He also snatched the bacon package, pulled some strips out then shoved the package back in the fridge. Putting a towel paper in the microwave, he placed the bacon on it and nuked them. The toast popped up and he blindly ate them without butter. The microwave pinged and the odor of cooked bacon wafted into the air. He ate them straight from the oven and continued to stare in the distance as he fed himself.

Jake didn't dare say anything so ate his cereal in silence but kept his eyes on Chance. His partner downed the milk, closed the microwave, tossed the can in the trash, washed his paws and stalked out of the room. He never said a word the whole time, it was as if Jake wasn't there at all. The cinnamon tom quietly got up and put his bowl in the sink and followed his partner.

He found Chance had gone down to the garage and was listening, stonily, to the messages on their answering machine. He wrote down a couple of tows, grabbed the keys for the truck and was out the door. Normally, they went on tows together but it was obvious his partner needed to be alone.

Sighing, worriedly, Jake decided to test their newly repaired systems on the jet and bikes, just in case they'd been tampered with while they slept. He didn't know what he would do if those things Chance had told them about had found their secret hangar.

By the time he heard the tow truck returning, Jake had finished his inspection and was very relieved to find things the way they'd left them the night before so he had gone back upstairs and was relaxing with a technical magazine.

Moments later he was startled by his partner charging into their waiting area in a foul mood.

"Chance?"

"They've hit everywhere. The city is in chaos. All the traffic lights aren't working so traffic is snarled so badly that no one can move anywhere and Feral has had to have his enforcers back up the police in directing traffic and handling accidents. ATM machines are spitting out money with no one inputting anything, causing riots as people scramble like mad things for the cash. And that's only what I could see, the radio wasn't working because the broadcasting system is down." He spit out furiously.

Jake gaped at him as his partner told him of the disasters that were befalling the city and he hadn't been aware of it since he hadn't turned on the TV or radio.

Chance began to pace back and forth trying to burn off his anger and helplessness. This wasn't something they could fight with their superior technology. Feral was barely getting a handle on the sheer chaos going on around him.

"What's even worse, I heard from a beat cop that the enforcers haven't a single chopper or jet that works. They're trying to repair them as fast as they can but they can't trust it doesn't get undone the next time it's used. It's a nightmare!" He hissed as he continued to pace.

"It's that alright. Those creatures are everywhere, but, Chance, we didn't see that many come out of the portal so how are they doing all this in such a short time?" Jake asked anxiously.

Chance stopped and heaved for breath, trying to calm himself. "They move swift as the wind and don't need to rest. Just a group of less than ten can bring an entire army of thousands strong to their knees in ancient times but the devastation they can wrought on a mechanized city is incalculable." He said tightly.

Jake was careful not to point out that Chance shouldn't know that fact so readily. He didn't want his friend to be even more upset by his new knowledge and how it was acquired. Instead he asked, "Then how do we stop them before our city is in ruins?"

The tabby threw his paws into the air. "I don't know! It's so frustrating.......all these bits and pieces I'm getting and none of it of any use in solving this nightmare." He snarled.

His friend sat there feeling helpless, wishing he could dare to coax Chance to let the medallion teach him what he needed to know but he could understand the tabby's reluctance. He wouldn't want something he didn't know anything about, poking around in his head so why should Chance.

At Enforcer Headquarters, Feral was frustrated and exhausted. He was forced to believe that burly SWAT Kat knew what he was talking about because there was nothing in their past history that could explain this wave of break downs of everything mechanized in their city.

He'd spent hours coordinating between his enforcers and the various police departments to keep the fear, violence, and chaos to a minimum and that was damn hard when all his equipment was suspect. He had a mega headache and hadn't time to take anything for it.

Add to their woes, communications were down and they were reduced to using their handheld radios to communicate. He'd had a runner take a radio to the Deputy Mayor just so he could keep her in the loop. The Mayor, of course, had already bailed on them and was hiding in his country estate.

This was the first moment he'd had to catch his breath and he needed to find a way to stop this and the only one he thought could help was Dr. Sinian. Grabbing his coat, he went down the long flight of stairs since the elevators were untrustworthy. It took him over fifteen minutes to get to the ground floor.

Out front his sedan sat parked with a guard walking around it. They were reduced to guarding vehicles to insure they weren't tampered with, more katpower wasted. He nodded at the guard who quickly got in beside him while Feral took a circuitous route through the city to try and avoid the blocked intersections. It took much longer to reach the museum than usual.

Once they'd arrived, the enforcer with him took up his guard duty while Feral went inside the museum. He had to take the stairs here as well to reach Dr. Sinian's second floor offices. After a moment's search he found her sequestered in a special storage room for ancient books.

"Commander Feral? Is it as bad as I've heard?" The doctor asked when she looked up and saw him striding toward her. She wasn't surprised that he'd come, though. She'd expected him at some point.

"It's probably worse than you'd heard, Dr. Sinian. I'm hoping you know why I'm here and are already working on solving our problem?" He asked hopefully.

"Well, not exactly Commander. The solution may be with one source but until he tells me it's alright to let others know, I can't release his name nor why he's involved." She said, wincing when she saw him go red with anger.

"What?" He shouted. "This city is in absolute chaos and by some creatures that SWAT Kat tells me are called Fremlins. But he couldn't tell me how to get rid of them. Since I can't find him, you are our only hope of finding out more on these creatures and how to get rid of them." He said tightly.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you how to rid our city of them either......wait Commander. Hear me out." She said quickly when Feral looked to take her head off again.

"These creatures are not from our world so we have nothing to go back and check to see how to manage them. Come here and I'll show you something." She told him then opened the same book she had shown T-Bone. Since it didn't say anything about the tom, she felt safe in giving Feral something concrete to deal with.

"Here, you see this......it shows a race of strange beings called Fae had visited our world during Queen Callista's time. This person I can't name is apparently from this place but was abandoned here in our city for reasons no one knows yet. He brought me artifacts to try and identify where he'd come from and we were investigating that when the portal opened and those creatures came through. This individual only remembers coming through the portal by his mother but hasn't any knowledge about these things because he was a kitten at the time. I'm trying to help him discover his past. He's the key to saving our city but he must be left alone to do it. If we press him, the knowledge could be lost and we'll be destroyed. So, Commander, as much as it pains me and hurts everyone in the city, we have no choice but to wait and hope he finds what he needs quickly." She explained.

Feral scowled. It was obvious he wasn't satisfied with that. "By the time this person decides to do something there may not be a city to save, doctor." He snapped.

"Please, Commander. He's a very moral person who couldn't bear to see others suffer. Trust me! He will do what he can when he can!" She told him, paws spread in supplication.

"I only have your word on this but since I know you have nothing to gain, I'll try and keep the city together until this **person** gets his head together." He growled unhappily then turned and left.

"Thank you, Commander." She murmured even though the tom was already gone and couldn't hear her. 'T-Bone please let the medallion help you before it's far too late for all of us.' She prayed silently.


	6. Chapter 6

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 6: The First Blow is Struck

The tension was getting to Chance. He went down to the hangar alone and began pacing again. He knew what he had to do but was afraid what would happen. Would his life be changed completely? Of course it would! He wasn't what he appeared to be and trying to run from that fact was hurting his adoptive world.

He had to do it, he finally decided. 'But I better have Jake monitor me.' He thought, moving to the stairs to go back to his partner.

But before he could put his foot on the first rung of the ladder the alarm went off. Groaning, he hurried to the phone.

"Yes Ms. Briggs?"

"T-Bone! That monster is back and so is the portal in Megakat Park. Feral is on scene but isn't having any better luck taking it out than the last time. Better get over here and see if you can help." Callie said hurriedly. It sounded like she was in her car.

"We'll try, Ms. Briggs!" He told her then hung up. Jake was already at his side and they both went to change clothes.

Soon T-Bone was flying over the park again. "Here we go again, Razor." He said as they hovered over the portal.

"None of my weapons work on that thing T-Bone. I have no clue what to do. Do you have any suggestions?" Razor asked in frustration and hoped T-Bone had picked up some information on this thing below them by now.

T-Bone didn't answer as he studied the creature. He knew it alright. It was the same creature that had chased his mother and he the night he had been abandoned. A cold fury build within him.

"Fire a flash bulb missile at him but warn Feral first!" He ordered.

Blinking in bewilderment, Razor nonetheless did as he was told. "Feral, all of you turn your heads away and cover your eyes, quick!" He waited a minute or two then, "Flash bulb missile away!" He called out.

Below, Feral's enforcers had formed the same ring of containment they'd done the first time around the creature but kept their distance since they knew nothing they had could effect the thing.

Feral watched as the Turbokat arrived then startled as he received a blunt warning. He had only moments to order his troops to protect their eyes before a missile screamed toward them.

The light was still bright enough for he and his men to cry out but at least they weren't blinded. The creature, however, roared in pain. Feral sighed in relief, it seemed the SWAT Kats had managed to find something that affected the thing after all.

"Wha......it worked! That things screaming in pain and covering its eyes." Razor whooped.

"They don't like sunlight, it kills them but your flash just hurts him. Only keeping it out until daylight will destroy it." T-Bone said in a cold and distant voice, as he watched the creature scream in icy satisfaction.

"Oh, so how do we keep it in sight for a whole night until dawn?" Razor asked with a snort.

Evening had only just begun. That was a long time to keep something that could vanish easily, in view, that long much less make it stay in plain sight for the sun to kill it.

"There is another way!" T-Bone growled then switched frequencies to reach Feral. "Feral!

"What SWAT Kat?" Feral barked in his radio, looking up at them.

"Use all the bright lights you can find and circle that thing to contain it. I have to get something that will get rid of this thing permanently. We'll be right back." The tabby said.

"What?" Feral asked, curiously.

"Just watch the thing. Be back soon!" T-Bone growled, cutting the connection. He took the Turbokat from hover to forward motion and shot off toward the south of the city.

"T-Bone! Where are we going?" Razor asked in confusion.

"The museum. I need something there." His partner said flatly, his tone indicating he wasn't interested in talking.

Puzzled, Razor kept silent. They reached the museum in minutes. T-Bone placed the jet in hover mode above a section of roof covered in glass.

"Stay here with the jet! I'll be back!" T-Bone said as he opened the canopy. "We don't want to land the jet and have a Fremlin get at it again."

"Right!" Razor agreed. He had been about to object until T-Bone had added that excellent reason for one of them remaining behind and above the ground.

T-Bone repelled down, popped a skylight open then repelled the rest of the way to the floor. Running on silent feet, he crossed through the aircraft exhibit and made for the corridor outside that would take him to Dr. Sinian's office.

He found her at her desk pouring through another book.

"Oh, T-Bone....what....." She started to ask but he cut her off.

"I need a sword made of iron. Have you got one?" He asked hurriedly.

She blinked at him in surprise but didn't ask why he needed it, she could see he was in a hurry. "Yes, in the medieval room. Come with me." She said then led him through the museum until they reached the dark ages exhibit. She made for a cabinet to one side of the room. In it were dozens of different types of swords and knives. She used her key to open the case.

T-Bone studied the weapons then reached for one. His eyes seemed to glow behind his mask briefly as he hefted a thick sword with engravings on it.

"This will do. I need to borrow this but I'm not certain I'll be able to give it back to you, doc." T-Bone said grimly.

"If it's to save our city then it will have served a good cause, T-Bone. Take it and good luck to you." She said solemnly.

He nodded and quickly left her, running full out, until he reached the aircraft room once more and repelled back up to the waiting jet. He carefully placed the sword at his side then took back control of the jet and sent it rocketing back to the park.

The scene was still the same when they got back except for the ring of spotlights, Feral had circled their prey with. The creature stood screaming angrily with an arm covering its eyes.

T-Bone landed the jet nearby on the street and jumped out with the sword in his paw as if he'd been born knowing how to use it.

Razor had jumped down after him and was nervously following his partner. He had no idea what T-Bone was going to do but it had him scared.

The tabby stalked up to the circle of enforcers, coming up beside Feral who stood just behind one of the lights.

"Turn off all but four of these lights." He commanded.

Feral startled and eyed the SWAT Kat in surprise. His eyes narrowed as he stared at T-Bone. Something about the SWAT Kat was odd, making his fur rise and forcing him to take a step back from the Kat with the naked sword in his paw. There was a set look of determination and an odd coldness on his masked face. Not certain why, but Feral felt it wise to obey rather than try to get answers.

He barked out order to his enforcers and several lights blinked out leaving a dimmer circle of light on the creature.

It roared and hissed but lowered its arm a little to see what was going on. T-Bone stepped past the light, moving into the circle holding the thing in place.

Suddenly it growled with a harsh laugh that sent chills up the spines of all those within hearing distance.

"So, the princeling has sought me.....Fool! You have delivered yourself into the arms of he who is the right arm of the King and I will be praised for your returning you to him." He ground out in triumph, huge, nasty teeth gleaming in the light, it's voice sounding like rocks being ground together.

"Don't count your reward until its taken Hoblin!" T-Bone hissed, holding his sword up.

The creature halted as he noted the sword. He growled furiously and went on the defensive. From no where they could see, the Hoblin drew its own sword. It was huge and resembled a broadsword. It was as big as one of the creature's arms and could easily reach T-Bone with no effort.

Then something incredible happened. T-Bone began to glow. It started faintly so that one couldn't be sure they were seeing it until it was bright enough to encompass his whole body. It reached a level no one could look at him and the Hoblin screeched in pain.

Then just as suddenly as it had appeared, the glow vanished but so did the one known as T-Bone. In his place was a stunning creature who had a powerful body dressed in some kind of two piece tight fitting outfit, long hair that looked like spun gold, cascading down his back, very silky looking golden fur, a face with no mask that was nearly too beautiful to behold with tri-colored green eyes but what riveted everyone's gaze were the huge golden wings that opened slowly then fanned in the night air.

The golden creature looked too delicate to be able to fight such a dark creature but there was a feeling of power emanating from the winged figure. It's aura warned this was not easy prey but a deadly force to be reckoned with.

Suddenly the golden one lunged forward making the first cut in the Hoblin's arm. It roared in fury and the battle was engaged. The one that had been T-Bone used his wings to good advantage as he swooped out of reach of his enemy's sword then swooped back in to deliver a blow of his own.

The deadly duel went on in near silence and held the crowd spell bound in fear and wonder. Finally, the golden warrior got past the Hoblin's guard and delivered a killing blow straight into its heart. The creature screamed and fell through the portal that snapped closed behind it.

With the enemy vanquished and the battle over, the warrior stood trembling for a long moment then glowed brightly once more to be replaced with T-Bone. The SWAT Kat moaned then swooned to the ground in a dead faint.

Razor ran up to his friend in fear and worry. Feral pushed past his troops and came to his side as well.

"T-Bone!" Razor called out, shaking and tapping his friend's face gently.

"Here!" Feral said handing Razor a bottle of water he'd produced from somewhere.

Razor gave him a grateful look then poured some water on his partner's face. He was rewarded by a sputter of annoyance and confusion.

"What the heck! Razor wha......" T-Bone gasped as he jerked to a sitting position. "What the heck happened?"

"You don't remember?" Razor asked, shocked.

"Uh, no not really." His friend said, frowning and scratching his head. He moved to stand up and was surprised when Feral caught hold of his arm and helped him up.

He looked around at the circle of enforcers, the lights and noted the portal with the creature was gone.

"What happened to the creep and the portal?" He asked in confusion.

"T-Bone, you defeated the thing with a sword and killed it. It fell through the portal which closed behind it." Razor explained.

"But that felt more like a dream! You mean it was real?" T-Bone blurted in shock, gaping at his friend in disbelief until he felt the sword still in his paw with black stuff dripping off it. He blinked at it stupidly.

"Not only that you changed." His friend said in an awed voice.

"What?"

"It's true! I wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't seen it for ourselves. You were all golden with long hair and wings for crud sake." Feral said gruffly, still shaken by what T-Bone had become.

Afraid now, T-Bone swallowed and asked nervously. "Then it **was** real!"

"Oh yeah! It definitely was that alright." Razor said solemnly.

T-Bone couldn't say a word, just gape at everyone.

"Well now I know who Dr. Sinian was protecting." Feral rumbled, shaking his head in consternation. "I hope she was right....that you know how to save us from these things."

"I.....I don't know if I can." T-Bone stuttered. "I mean....geez....I don't even know what just happened."

"Oh swell! Then how did you do what you did?" Feral demanded.

"I....don't know.....everything is hazy....like I said, everything felt like a dream, like someone else was doing those things and I was just watching." The tabby tried to explain something he didn't understand himself.

"It's got to be the medallion, T-Bone. It's the key to everything! I'm sure of it!" Razor exclaimed.

"Medallion? What are you talking about?" Feral asked, curious now.

"T-Bone?" Razor asked. He didn't want to tell Feral anything his friend didn't want to share.

His partner shook his head. He was reeling from all that had happened.

"I think we'd better go see Dr. Sinian and I'll explain there." He finally said. "I have to return this anyway. I'm guessing that's where I got it."

"Yeah, you did." Razor nodded.

"Fine. I'll meet you two there." Feral said, ready to get some answers at last.

Still very shaken, T-Bone walked toward the jet and set the blade next to him again. Razor jumped into his seat and soon they were off again.

'This is going to be a long night, I think.' T-Bone thought gloomily as he took them back to the museum.


	7. Chapter 7

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 7: The Past is Revealed

It didn't take the SWAT Kats too long to return to the museum. They landed in the empty parking lot just as Feral landed nearby in his chopper. They walked together up the stairs of the museum and were met by the night security guard and Dr. Sinian who Feral had notified of their eminent arrival.

They slipped in and said nothing until they were securely behind Dr. Sinian's locked office door.

"Here Dr. Sinian." T-Bone said as he handed over the bloody sword.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, going to get a rag to wipe the blade off then setting it on a side board out of the way. She would put it back later. "So can you tell me what happened tonight?" She asked.

T-Bone didn't speak so Razor and Feral told her what had gone on in Megakat Park and T-Bone's part in it.

Sinian's eyes widened in stunned amazement, her eyes drifting toward the silent tabby during the explanation.

"I see. It appears your legacy has made itself known, T-Bone. I fear Razor is correct.....the medallion may very well hold the key to your past." She said solemnly.

T-Bone glanced up from the floor he'd been studying. "I know you're right, doc. It just scares the hell out of me but I had already decided earlier today that I needed to know what was going on before this emergency pushed the point." He sighed in resignation.

Slowly, he pulled the medallion from out of his G-suit, the chain still around his neck, and let it lay on his chest.

Feral leaned a little closer to stare at the strange metal curiously. He began to reach forward to touch it when T-Bone stopped him with his paw.

"No one can touch it but me, Commander." He said firmly.

Feral frowned but didn't push the matter. "So where did this come from?" He asked.

Sighing deeply, T-Bone told Feral the story of his past or as much of it as he knew.

The Commander gave a low whistle of amazement and stared at his usually troublesome opponent with new eyes.

"So you really aren't from around here and this medallion might have the key to your past?" He asked slowly.

"That's what we think and the fact that I apparently changed appearance in the park says its much more than it seems." T-Bone admitted.

"Then it looks like you'll have to bite the bullet as it were and allow this thing to tell you what's going on. That's if I understand what you're getting at Dr. Sinian." Feral said cautiously looking over at her.

"Yes, everything seems to be pointing at this being a memory tool of some kind. Once T-Bone 'tunes' into it we hope it will impart the information about his past to him." Dr. Sinian said, hopeful that was true.

"So what do you think I need to do?" T-Bone asked nervously.

"I would guess the same thing you did the first time.....just hold it in your palm and allow it to do what it needs to." Dr. Sinian advised.

"We'll watch you, buddy. If it seems something bad is happening we'll try and break the spell." Razor offered encouragingly.

"Thanks, Razor." T-Bone said then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached up and took the medallion in his paw and waited. He tried to let his mind relax but he was too scared.

For more than five minutes nothing happened. T-Bone frowned and opened his palm.

"That's funny, nothing's changed. Last time it went from cold to warm quickly. What's wrong?" He muttered confused.

Razor thought back to the last time T-Bone got anything from the Medallion. Dr. Sinian was doing the same thing and they both came up with the same answer.

"Blood!" They said in unison.

"Remember, T-Bone? You cut your palm on it because you were holding it too tightly." Dr. Sinian went on to say, surprised she and Razor had remembered the same thing.

T-Bone blinked behind his mask and did as asked. He squeezed his paw tightly until he felt the sting then the medallion went warm and the present world vanished from his eyes replaced by the vision of his mother. Though startled, he fought to hold still and keep his mind open to her.

She smiled tenderly at him and began to speak.

"_My son, if you are seeing me through the medallion then you are old enough to accept your heritage. Listen closely as I tell you who and what you are." She said warmly. "Try to relax as best you can, a great deal of information must be force fed you quickly because time has run out. You will be exhausted but will have very little time to rest. Listen closely......"_

T-Bone watched and listened as his mother showed him a fantastic place and told him of the war that was being waged and what his part he now played in it. The most important thing she imparted froze his soul with raw fear.

"_No, I'm just a pilot! I can't do this thing all by myself!" _He objected, wishing he could just run away.

His mother sighed, a look of infinite sadness filling her eyes. _"My son, I would give all I am to protect you from this. I would have allowed you to live your life in that world without knowing anything of mine but your adopted world is part of this and there is no going back. You must take up your destiny or we are all lost." _She said gently.

T-Bone swallowed his fear and looked away for a long moment. His mother was right, he couldn't just pretend the war wasn't his concern. He'd never backed down from a fight and he wouldn't begin now. He took a deep breath and settled himself. His heart still hammered with fear but he would do what was necessary for the sake of all that he held dear.

"_Alright, tell me what I must do." _He said flatly. His mother smiled gratefully and proudly then briefed him.

When she said farewell, he felt himself falling, his vision darkening around the edges. Strong arms caught his swaying form before he slid from the chair they had placed him. A bottle of water was pushed into his paws.

Blinking rapidly and trying to return to the present, T-Bone blindly drank the water gratefully. He didn't know how long he'd been 'gone' but his mouth was very dry.

"How long was I 'gone'?" He asked, hoarsely.

"More than three hours. We were beginning to get concerned." Razor said, staring into his face anxiously.

T-Bone looked around and found the others were sitting in chairs in a semi-circle around him. Razor and Feral sat at either side of him with Dr. Sinian facing him. They eyed him warily, afraid of what he would tell them.

"Okay, there's a lot she told me but I'll just give you the highlights that you'll need to know." He said heavily, swallowing more water before starting.

"Beyond the portal is a land called Alaria. My mother and father are Queen and consort. Long before I was born and when my mother was young, my mother's people visited other worlds through their magical portals. They do not age as we do so they live centuries. One day, my mother visited this world, met a handsome young male that took her fancy. They fell in love and my mother took him back to her world where his life was extended. There world is one that lives side by side with nature and magic is all they know. It is made up of two races, the Dark and the Light Kingdoms of Fae. There was no poverty or want in this world but there was one sad problem. For a long lived race, they breed very slowly but as recently as a century ago in our time, no kittens were being born. They were forced to go to other worlds to breed then return to Alaria with their kittens. This is what my mother and father did to conceive me." T-Bone paused to drink more water then glanced at his friend.

"Remember when I told you I had no clue how old I was, Razor?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah. I take you are much older than you seem." His partner said cautiously.

T-Bone snorted in amusement, "Though I appeared to be a kitten barely six months old to those who found me, in reality I was already about twenty years old in your time."

The three gaped at him in stunned amazement. It was Razor who managed to speak first.

"Wow! You look pretty good for fifty years old, buddy."

His partner couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah and I don't feel a second past twenty either. Anyway, to continue......for centuries the two sides coexisted with only the occasional petty skirmish then one day the Dark King decided he wanted to rule all of Alaria. No ones certain if he's gone insane or not since no one can get close enough to him to find out. He plunged Alaria into a bloody war that raged for most of my infancy. When my father was killed, my mother knew she had to protect me. One night she slipped away and went through a portal that hadn't yet been taken by the Dark King and brought me here. She hated leaving me but knew there was no choice then returned to fight." T-Bone sighed, a flash of anguish loss flicking across his face for a moment.

"Oh, T-Bone that was rough. I'm sorry you lost your father." Razor said softly.

"Thanks." T-Bone said sadly.

"I don't understand. Why did your mother feel she had to take you away? Wouldn't you have been safer in the paws of a trusted person near her?" Feral asked, frowning.

The tabby turned his attention to Feral. "She did it because of the prophecy." He said flatly.

Eyes widened on the listeners. Dr. Sinian blurted, "Prophecy?"

T-Bone grimaced unhappily. "Yeah, apparently there was a prophecy about my birth. No one had really paid much attention to it until the war started. It was foretold that a prince of the Kingdom of Light would smite the King of Darkness should he start a war. The prince shall appear through the portal when he is of age, possessing the magical abilities of his home and the unknown skills of the adopted world he was hidden on. During a battle most mighty, he will bring low the King of Darkness. That prince is apparently me."

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"Kat's Alive! You're a prince?" Feral said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah, hard for me to believe too. My real name is Prince Lorcan, my mother is Queen Sorcha and my father was Alister Breegan from Megakat City." T-Bone said.

"Your father was from here?" Razor said in amazement.

"That's why she left me here. She knew my father's people would take care of me and I would fit in. My true appearance was locked into my body by a spell of my mother's. The medallion is a learning tool and when the Hoblin attacked it took over and released my true appearance."

"Uh, wait, that figure knew how to use a sword very well and fly and no way did you know how to do either." Razor objected.

"Yeah, I know. Remember I said it felt like a dream to me.......?" He asked. Razor and Feral nodded. "Well, my battle skills and knowledge of this world were used by the medallion which added an overlay of an experienced Alarian's skills and knowledge over my mind and did what was necessary. I was sort of a spectator in my own body as it were. The Alarian warrior mind that was used, apparently is an uncle of mine." T-Bone explained the best he could. It still sounded weird when he said it aloud.

Feral grimaced in distaste. "That smacks of mind control."

"Well, I guess you could call it that except it wasn't trying to control me as much as it was guiding my body to do what it would have been trained to do if I had been raised at court." T-Bone tried to clarify.

"I still wouldn't have liked my body to have been highjacked that way." Feral muttered.

"Truthfully, I didn't like it much either but there was no choice at the time. Anyway, the medallion will teach me how to use my magical abilities and how to release my real appearance so that I can fulfill the prophecy." The tabby said glumly.

"Geez, they aren't asking much of you are they?" Feral grunted sarcastically. "So how does all this affect our city's defense?" He asked, getting back to the subject that was more important to him.

"Yeah, well until I learn my abilities, you can expect frequent invasions from my world. The Dark King wants me captured or dead." T-Bone said grimly. "I have to learn as fast as I can. All you can do Commander is warn Razor and I whenever you get a call about a portal showing or odd, unexplainable things happening and I'll deal with them. You can act with everything you have, but you will not defeat them. At best, you'll be able to delay or prevent them from harming and damaging the city until I can take them out. That's the best I can give you right now."

"Oh that's just wonderful. What about those things that are still here that are destroying our equipment with their malicious and sneaky damaging of the innards of everything we have?" Feral asked bitterly.

"You mean the fremlins.......yeah, we've had our own run-ins with the little invisible beasties." T-Bone growled. "I don't know how to deal with them yet but I'll make it my first lesson requirement and get back to you immediately."

"I'll hold you to that. Those things have really made it impossible to do anything and I'm concerned one of our own omegas would take advantage of our helplessness. Though, come to think of it, Hard Drive, Turmoil and Dark Kat would be hamstrung as well since these things would destroy their favorite mechanized toys. The only two that won't be affected is Viper and the Pastmaster." Feral said thoughtfully.

"The Pastmaster won't appear." T-Bone said flatly.

"Huh! How do you know?" The Commander asked in surprise.

"My race's magic holds sway right now, his isn't compatible. His magic is blocked. I can't explain how I know that, I just do." The tabby said, shrugging.

"Well that's a relief to know. I think you're right about the others too Commander. However, I don't think Viper will be trying anything right now either. Just a feeling of mine." Razor said.

"Alright, then we just focus on our present problem of magical invaders from your dimension, SWAT Kat. I need to go home and get some rest, there's not much night left. Tomorrow will probably be a hectic day. Keep me informed." Feral grunted then made his way out of the office and out of the museum.

"He's right, we've got to get some rest while we can." Razor agreed getting up as well.

"I don't know what I can do to help but keep me in the loop and let me know if there's anything I can do." Dr. Sinian said as she walked with them to the main doors and saw them out.

"We will, doc. Get some rest yourself." T-Bone said then the two of them hurried out and down the stairs for their jet. They heard Feral's chopper already airborne and heading back to Enforcer Headquarters. Soon they were off and heading home themselves.


	8. Chapter 8

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 8: Learning to be a Prince

The two tired vigilantes made it home without incident and quickly stripped off their G-suits and headed to bed.

Chance slept the clock around and didn't wake until nine the morning two days later from the events in the park. A bit groggy, he staggered to the shower which woke him up. Feeling better, he made his way to the kitchen. His partner was no where around. The tabby thought nothing of it and made himself breakfast.

When he'd finished, Chance went down to the garage and found Jake working on a sedan, changing the spark plugs.

"Morning Jake." He sang out preparing to set to work.

"Well, its about time. I was beginning to worry about you." Jake said turning his head to stare at his partner.

"Huh? I overslept a little, what's the big deal?" Chance asked frowning at his friend in annoyance.

"Chance it's two days later since you went to bed." Jake said flatly.

The tabby froze in the act of lifting the hood of another vehicle and stared at Jake in shock. "No way!"

"Yes, way. Fortunately, nothing has been going on except for those Fremlin things giving the enforcers constant headaches. No portals have opened either, otherwise, I would have did my best to wake you up, but since it stayed quiet, I allowed you to keep sleeping though it made me nervous you were out that long. I checked you often but you were just sleeping.....heavily." Jake told him.

"Crud! I didn't think I was that tired. Must be from working with the medallion. It obviously drains me a lot. Better keep that in mind when I start my sessions with it and see how long it takes me to recover from each session." Chance said thoughtfully.

"It could be you just need to get used to it. Gradually you'll build up the strength to handle longer and longer sessions without exhausting yourself." Jake said slowly.

"You could be right. Won't know until I begin using it on a regular basis." Chance said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Then I guess you better go down to the hangar and get started. I can hold down things here but the city can't wait for you to be trained and ready to help defend them and your homeland. Unfortunately, we have no idea how long your training will take so no time can be wasted." Jake ordered him.

"It feels wrong somehow to leave you all this work. We're partners after all." Chance said reluctantly.

"We've done it before, buddy, when I've worked on my inventions or was fixing something on the jet and you held down the fort. The only difference is it's you who can do what needs done and not me this time." Jake said, giving Chance a reassuring smile.

Chance sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'll leave you to it." He said then headed down the ladder to the hangar.

Looking around a moment, he decided one of the empty rooms down here in this huge facility would be a safe place to practice things that could damage the delicate electronics Jake had around the main hangar.

He walked down a darkened corridor, checking many of the dusty rooms along the way with a flashlight until he halted at one that seemed to fit his needs. He flicked the light switch and a long fluorescent light fixture flickered then burst into full light allowing him to see the empty cement walled room better.

Nodding to himself, he figured the thick concrete walls should be sufficient to keep any magic he used inside. He pulled the door to just a crack so that Jake could peer in to check on him but not enter the room which could disrupt the magic he was working with or maybe cause harm to his friend.

Pulling the medallion out of his shirt where it hung around his neck, he stared at it with some trepidation. This business of magic still made him nervous. Jake was more at ease with the weird stuff than he was. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he squeezed the medallion in his palm until he drew blood.

Almost instantly, he was transported to a room larger than the one his body physically stood in. It had white marble tiles under foot, gleaming white walls decorated with frescos of scenes from battles of long ago painted on them from the world of his birth. One wall held all manner of ancient weaponry except for iron made ones and guns.

At first he was alone but moments later a figure appeared from thin air. The fae warrior was tall and lean with long hair to his waist the color of midnight blue. His eyes were tri-colored rings of differing hues of blue and he had wings of aqua. Finishing his look was a tight fitting uniform of the royal house of Alaria. Altogether, he was blindingly beautiful but no one would dare call him feminine. He radiated power and arrogance.

"Uh, hello?" Chance said, hesitantly.

"Greetings Prince Lorcan." The fae said bowing deeply from the waist. "I am your Uncle Conall."

"Hi, glad to meet you." Chance said nodding his head, feeling odd speaking to an image that could speak with him. "Uhm, how is it you can talk with me as if you were here?"

Conall smiled slightly. "Magic, my prince. A spell was set with my personality and set to go off as soon as you activated the medallion. So, in essence, you are speaking to me as if I were here in person."

"Oh, wow, that's certainly handy." Chance said, reassured but still unsettled by it. "So, you're here to teach me what I need to know on magic use and fighting the dark fae?"

"Yes, my prince. But first I need to see what your present skills are before adding to them. I am pleased that you are already a warrior and fit, this will make learning other fighting methods much easier for you. Time is of the essence, though, so shall we begin?" Conall asked.

"Yes, but first I really need to know how to deal with the Fremlins. They are causing significant problems with the military and my partner and I's equipment." Chance said firmly.

Conall gave a grave nod. "So those have made it to your hidden home, heh? They are a vicious infestation I would wish on no one. The spell casting is tricky so pay close attention, my prince." Conall said seriously then walked Chance through the spells he needed to deal with the nasty creatures.

More than an hour later and sweating from repeated attempts at doing the spell, Chance finally succeeded in casting it perfectly. Conall insisted he do it several more times to be sure he had the spell well and truly learned then they took a break.

Chance was trembling and thirsty. He couldn't believe doing magic could be this exhausting.

"My prince, spell casting is physically demanding but your stamina will increase the more you use it. Soon you will be able to cast spells for many hours if needed." Conall said in sympathy.

"That's what my partner guessed. Glad to know he was right but wish I could get that stamina faster." Chance sighed.

Conall smiled and clapped Chance on the shoulder. "Don't we all my prince. Now, I want you to go and get something to eat, drink and lay down for an hour then come back. Don't try and cheat......it will only make the next session shortened because you didn't give your body a chance to recover." Conall warned, giving the prince a gentle push to the door.

Chance grimaced at the restriction but nodded his obedience and went out of the room. The magical space vanished as soon as he crossed over the threshold with a brief flash of light. He turned his head back to the room and blinked in amazement at the now restored space. It was like he stepped from one world to another and it was very disconcerting.

Shaking his head, he trudged back down the corridor to the main hangar then up the ladder. He paused in the garage to see how Jake was.

His partner was sitting in the break area eating lunch and watching TV. The garage was empty of customers much to his relief.

"Hey, I see you managed to get done." He said tirededly.

"Yeah, about an hour ago. Aw, Chance, you really look like hell." Jake exclaimed jumping to his feet and coming to his friend's side.

"Umph.....yeah.....I'm tired. By the way, you were right, constant practice will increase my ability to do magic for longer and longer periods. But right now just a couple of hours doing one spell has wiped me out. Conall......." The tabby explained but was cut off by his partner.

"Conall? Who is that?" Jake asked sharply.

"A magical construct of my uncle. His personality is in the spell casting so its like he's really here. I have to tell you, that's really weird. Anyway, Uncle Conall told me to get something to eat and to lay down for an hour then return." Chance sighed.

Jake blinked at that. "Oh, okay, sounds like a good idea. How about I make you a sandwich? You just sit down and rest."

"Thanks buddy. Could I have some water? I'm really thirsty." Chance asked, groaning as he sat down on the couch and put his feet up.

"Sure, be right back." Jake said and disappeared upstairs to their apartment. By the time Jake returned, Chance was dozing on the couch, head tipped back and snoring. Shaking his head, the cinnamon tom put the plate and cup on the coffee table then shook his friend hard.

"Huh....wha?" The tabby snorted and blinked blurrily at his friend.

"Sorry, buddy but you need to eat then go up to your bed to nap." Jake urged his friend.

"Oh, right.....thanks." Chance muttered as he sat up more and reached for the sandwich.

Jake shook his head in sympathy as he sat down next to his friend and returned to watching his show on the TV while keeping an eye on his partner. When he saw the tabby had finished his lunch and was about to settle down on the couch to sleep, he got up quickly.

"Uh uh, buddy. Up you get!" He said as he pulled his friend to his feet.

Chance could only grumble but stumbled along as Jake tugged him to the stairs then up to his bedroom allowing the tabby to fall face first onto his bed, falling immediately asleep.

Sighing, Jake left his friend to rest. He knew he would have to wake him in about an hour even though he'd rather allow Chance to rest longer as tired as the poor tabby was but he knew that wasn't an option.

An hour later he was literally dragging the big tabby off his bed. "Come on, Chance. You said you had to return to your lessons. I know you're tired but you have to get going." He said urgently.

"I know, stop pulling on me.....I'm getting up." Chance growled tirededly. He slowly pushed himself off the bed and swayed on his feet a moment before getting his balance and heading for the bathroom.

He decided a quick shower would wake him more and allow him to focus. Ten minutes later, feeling more awake, Chance headed back to the cement room once more and called up his uncle.

"You still look a little peaked, my nephew." Conall observed critically.

"Yeah, I could have used more hours of sleep but I know time isn't on our side so I don't have the luxury for more rest so shall we get started?" Chance said

Conall nodded, his eyes reflecting his approval. "Then let's begin!"


	9. Chapter 9

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 9: Getting Rid of Fremlins

Chance couldn't remember when he'd pushed his body this hard before. The rest of the day, with only two one hour breaks, was spent under his Uncle Conall's tutelage. It had been thoroughly grueling and as he dragged himself back upstairs, he didn't have the energy to eat much less take a shower.

When Jake saw the shape his partner was in, he winced in sympathy but still forced Chance to eat a sandwich before allowing him to collapse fully clothed to his bed, asleep before he hit the pillow.

For the next three days the routine would be the same except by the third day, Chance was able to withstand more and more use of magic without becoming completely exhausted. By the fourth day his uncle had a word with him.

"My prince," he said quietly, halting their latest workout.

"Yeah?"

"You have done exceptionally well for a beginner and I'm well pleased. There is much more to learn but you do have that serious Fremlin problem to deal with. Since you now have the stamina built up, I feel you are capable of dealing with it tomorrow morning," Conall said, a pleased smile on his lips.

"Really?" Chance said, surprised and pleased by Conall's evaluation. When his uncle nodded, he asked, "could we go through it a few times more.....just so I feel competent with the spell casting?"

"Of course, a wise decision," Conall said warmly. "Then proceed with your casting and I will monitor your accuracy. Begin!" He commanded.

Chance nodded, took a proper stance and raised his paws, palms outward. In slow careful fashion he pronounced each word of the spell precisely. In moments, his paws began to glow. As he spoke each word, the bluish-white glow grew brighter and brighter until Chance was nearly hidden by the incandescence of it. After the last word was spoken, he kept control, not releasing it.

His Uncle Conall watched him closely and forced the tom to hold the spell for three minutes before giving him the signal to cancel the spell.

Taking a deep breath, Chance concentrated on pulling the energy from the spell back into himself then grounding by sending it through the earth beneath him. The glow vanished with a soft pop, leaving Chance limp with relief, holding the spell without releasing it was tough.

"Very good, my prince. When you prepare to use this, you will be pouring a lot of energy into it to clear away all the Fremlins that are most likely swarming your Enforcer Headquarters. Is this the only place infested?" He asked.

"As far as we know," Chance nodded. "When they first arrived they caused havoc everywhere but since then, it seems their orders were to take our the military force in our city so they've congregated there. Jake had made sure our equipment has been kept protected as best he can and I'd like to think my own presence has been a deterrent to them."

"You would be right about that, my prince. From the day in the park when you were revealed, they would have sensed you and avoided you at all costs," Conall concurred. "Very well, since you've told me this is a very large building, lets work on speeding up your spell casting so the Fremlins don't try to distract or kill you while you're trying to cast it."

"That certainly wouldn't be good," Chance grimaced as he prepared to practice the spell however many times it would take for him to know the spell as quick he thought it.

When he was done for the day and everything in his body was exhausted, he went back upstairs and flopped onto the couch. Jake came up from the garage and laid a couple boxes of pizza on the table with three cans of milk and a large bottle of water.

"Here you go buddy. The two milks and water are yours since I know you're really dehydrated now," he said as he plopped down nearby and grabbed some food. "So how's the training going?" He asked.

"Well......my uncle says I'm getting really good despite having to do what amounts to years of training in just days. He says I'm ready to rid the city of Fremlins. I asked him to give me a refresher just so I'm really familiar with it and I'm glad we did because I was still too slow casting it. By the time we stopped I only had to think the spell to cast it. So tomorrow I'm going to Enforcer Headquarters and do it," Chance sighed as he picked up a large slice of pizza and took a big bite from it.

Jake eyed him in pleased surprise. "Wow! That's great news! I've been listening to the enforcer band and Feral's just going nuts trying to keep anything running with those things around."

"Yeah, I know.....hey......can you get me the phone? I want to give Feral a heads up about tomorrow," the tabby said.

"Sure....." Jake got up and grabbed the phone from the kitchen, handing it to Chance as he returned to his seat.

After dialing Feral's private number he'd given them, Chance listened to the ring for a couple of minutes before a harried sounding Commander answered.

"Feral!"

"Commander......T-Bone here. I'm calling to let you know I'll be at your building first thing in the morning to get rid of your Fremlin problem."

"Finally! Those damn things have made us completely helpless and it hasn't taken long for the small fry criminals to catch on. I've been waiting for the bigger fish to learn of it and take us down," Feral said grimly, relief lacing his voice.

Chance grimaced, "Sorry it took me so long but spell casting is not a walk in the park and I had to build my stamina to do something on such a large scale. My uncle says I'm ready to do this. I'd come tonight, but I've been utilizing too much energy in my practice of the spell. When I'm fresh in the morning, you should be completely free within an hour," he promised.

"I'm sure we can keep it together a few hours longer since we know we'll be getting relief soon," Feral said dryly. "I'll be waiting for you on the flight line in the morning."

"Right, see you then." Chance acknowledged then hung up. "Huh! It feels weird to have Feral be so cooperating when it concerns us but since I'm the reason its all happening in the first place and its magic involved.......I can hardly blame him. He sounded really relieved to hear from me so things must be really bad."

"Yeah, they most definitely are and he's right about the omegas. This would be the perfect time for them except the Fremlins tricks are a detriment to some except for Viper. He's the one I'm truly concerned about," Jake said gravely.

"Uhmph! Well we can only hope that mutant lizard holds off a bit longer," the tabby said then groaned as he got to his feet. "I'm hitting the hay. See you in the morning, buddy."

"Okay, sleep well, Chance," Jake said.

He watched a little TV then cleaned up their mess before going off to bed himself. Tomorrow should be interesting.

By eight o'clock in the morning, both males were up eating breakfast.....Jake making sure Chance had plenty of energy food on board to get him through the workout he was going to get once he cast the spell. By eight-thirty they were airborne and heading for Enforcer Headquarters.

Within minutes of closing the distance to the flight line, Razor sent a radio call warning of their arrival. The tower gave them clearance and notified Commander Feral of their imminent touch down.

The huge tom was waiting when the Turbokat landed not far from the hangar doors, touching down smoothly. T-Bone shutdown the engines and popped the canopy. He and Razor leaped down to the ground and began to move toward Feral who was walking toward them.

Suddenly, T-Bone froze then whirled in his tracks, raising his paw and firing a burst of energy back toward the Turbokat. In the flare of the spell, several nasty looking things appeared, screaming then popping out of existence.

Scowling, T-Bone turned back around to the open mouthed surprise of Feral, and his enforcers standing near the hangar doors and watching, as well as his partner.

He shrugged self consciously, saying, "I sensed them sneaking up on the jet."

"Wow!" Razor said.

"Kat's Alive! That was a spell you cast? I didn't hear you say anything," Feral said in stunned amazement.

"Uh, well that was what all the practice was for, so I could cast the spell without actually speaking it aloud. Uncle Conall was surprised as well. He said only the most powerful of them could send a voiceless spell," the burly tom said, slightly embarrassed.

Feral just blinked at the tom. "Well, damn, I guess we should count ourselves lucky you are that powerful because this isn't a small building," he managed to say.

"Yeah, I know. It's going to take a sustained spell casting to do this. However, before I do this you need to insure no one is in the building. If those things have loosened anything or are in the process of doing that, when they are banished anything could fall and cause harm," T-Bone warned.

Frowning Feral shook his head unhappily. "I have prisoners in the cell block, should they be removed?"

It was T-Bone's turn to frown. "I don't know what to tell you Commander. That's your call."

Feral sighed and thought a moment before pulling his radio out and calling dispatch. "Institute evacuation alpha asap," he ordered.

Moments later a loud klaxon went off and soon the sidewalk around the building began to fill with all the personnel of Enforcer Headquarters as well as its auxiliary building in the second tower. It took more than thirty minutes for both buildings to be cleared out and for search teams to insure no one was left inside.

Huddled together with a ring of guards were the handful of prisoners that had been in the cell block, one of them was Hard Drive who watched what was going on with intent eyes.

Traffic had been halted a block away in all directions of the site. Feral, who had remained on the flight line while his building was evacuated, received the all clear.

"So, are you ready to get started?" He asked.

"You staying, I take it?" T-Bone asked as he flexed his body to loosen his muscles for the effort.

Feral just nodded. T-Bone nodded back and gestured for the two to stay back from him as he moved to stand in the center of the flight line.

Razor and Feral watched as T-Bone raised both of his paws and began to glow. The two quickly had to cover their eyes as the tom became too bright to see. Suddenly, the glow grew outward from T-Bone and began to spread over everything.

For Razor and Feral, it felt like a sweep of warmth had been pushed through them before moving on. They found they could see again but all they saw was T-Bone standing with his eyes closed, paws out, palms facing outward and unmoving but their fur rose from something they couldn't see and stayed that way for the length of the spell.

It made them both feel uneasy. Feral particularly, began to feel uncomfortable causing him to shiver and swallow nervously as the energy T-Bone's spell was casting reacted with something inside himself. The sensation continued on for more than thirty minutes.

Finally, it stopped and T-Bone collapsed to his knees and paws as he panted for air. Razor raced to his friend's side as Feral moved at a more sedate pace to join them.

"We're you successful?" He asked once he reached their side.

"Have to check first......give me a moment......" T-Bone panted, moving to a seated position.

"That spell sure felt weird as it passed through me," Razor commented.

Feral eyes the smaller SWAT Kat speculatively. "How did it feel to you?" He asked slowly.

Surprised, Razor eyed Feral questioningly but answered readily enough, "It felt like I was being immersed in hot water but my fur rose as if I'd been subjected to static electricity. And you?"

Feral grimaced unhappily. "I felt warmth too but I got the sensation of being tasted by something. It was unpleasant and wouldn't leave me alone until the spell ended," he admitted.

T-Bone blinked in surprise and stared up at Feral with a considering look. "Tasted huh? Hmm...." the tabby raised a paw and sent out a small tendril of energy toward the huge tom.

Feral gasped and stepped backward trying to escape the unpleasant sensation that spread suddenly all over his body. "Stop it!" He barked angrily.

T-Bone ended his magical touch immediately and frowned. He climbed slowly to his feet and studied Feral seriously. "Easy, Commander. This needs to be investigated but right now let me check the building. I suggest you prepare yourself for feeling my magical signature through you again but I'll be brief," he promised as he raised his paws again.

Nothing seemed to happen visually, except for Feral feeling that odd sensation again then moments later, T-Bone nodded in satisfaction and relaxed and the sensation the big tom was feeling ended as well.

"Your building is clean so you can have everyone return and clean up any mess that's been left," he told the Commander.

"Good!" Feral sighed in relief then pulled his radio and gave the all clear. When he received an acknowledgment he clicked off then turned back to T-Bone wanting to ask more about why he he reacted the way he did to the burly tom's magic but suddenly his radio chimed with an emergency.

"Feral!"

"Commander, Hard Drive is making an escape!" The dispatcher shouted.

Hissing angrily, Feral went to the edge of the building and saw a group of enforcers running after someone, most likely Hard Drive. They watched to see if the numerous troops chasing would catch the criminal but Hard Drive was fleet of foot and was using innocent bystanders and other things to block his pursuers. He made it into a store and vanished.

Behind Feral the Turbokat lifted off the flight line and took off after the running pack. It took them only seconds before they reached the building Hard Drive had run into and waited at the rear and sure enough, the Kat appeared and raced down the alley trying to put distance between himself and his pursuers.

It was then Razor made the criminals race for freedom very short as he got Hard Drive in his sights and shot a spider chain missile which neatly caught the culprit quickly.

"Bingo!" Razor crowed as Hard Drive hung below their jet tangled in the net.

"Great shooting, buddy. Now let's get this guy back to the enforcers," T-Bone cheered, steering the jet back the way they'd come.

Hovering over the flight line some minutes later, Razor released the net so their prisoner dropped the short distance to the ground. Enforcers hurried forward and took Hard Drive into custody. The SWAT Kats were about to leave when they received a radio call.

"SWAT Kats, please land. We still have something to discuss," Feral told them.

"Huh? What could he want now?"

"Guess we better see, buddy. He's been fair with us of late," Razor told his partner.

Sighing unhappily, T-Bone returned to the flight line and touched down. Opening the canopy they both jumped down, Razor secured the jet before they joined Feral who was waiting for them.

"Come to my office and we'll talk privately," Feral rumbled turning and leading the way.

As they walked through the flight ready area and into the main building, they could see the damage the Fremlins had left behind. Grimacing, the SWAT Kats knew this was going to take a while to clean up, putting the enforcers in a dangerous position should any of their enemies decided to attack now.

"What's your estimated time for being operational again?" Razor asked in concern as they made for the elevators.

Feral eyed Razor as he pressed the button for the elevator but before he could say anything the elevator doors opened to no elevator car. They blinked then leaned in and saw the car at the bottom of the shaft.

"Woah!" T-Bone whistled.

"Damn it!" Feral growled then headed for the stairs. "In answer to your question, most likely four hours for the most immediate things and twelve to be completely up and running again."

"Damn, that's not good!" Razor commented unhappily as they walked up the stairs, damage here was minimal.

"That's an understatement," Feral rumbled unhappily.

Except for a commiserating sigh, the SWAT Kats said nothing more as they walked to Feral's offices one floor down from the flight line. Privately, T-Bone was glad they hadn't been at the bottom floor, he was just too pooped right now for such a trek.

Minutes later they were in Feral's spacious office. He ordered some bottle water for T-Bone as he could see the SWAT Kat was looking a bit peaked after his heavy use of magic.

When the secretary brought him two bottles, T-Bone drank one down immediately. He sighed in relief and began drinking the second one much slower.

"Thank you! I get really dehydrated doing magic."

"I thought so," Feral nodded as he made for his desk and sat down only to fall to the floor. Hissing in fury, he got to his feet and stared down at his dismantled chair. Cursing under his breath he moved to the couch against the wall but paused and eyed it suspiciously, letting Razor test it first before daring to sit down again.

The SWAT Kats wisely didn't laugh, even if it had been funny. Nothing was too funny about how much damage the Fremlins had done during their time here.

"What a pain in the tail those things were," Razor said shaking his head.

"You'll get no argument from me. So, the reason I've asked you back is twofold. First, I want to know what you meant by that comment you made earlier about my reaction to your magic and secondly, we need to discuss the threat from the portal opening again," Feral said gravely.

T-Bone sighed and set his empty bottle down and returned Feral's grave look.

"You felt my magic differently than Razor did. His reaction is normal for the average non-magical Kat, however, your response was due to you possessing a magical core. It's not the same as mine because I'm not from here and that is why your body objected to it so strongly. I'm willing to bet Ms. Briggs might get the same reaction. It's also the same reason the Pastmaster won't show up here right now," he explained.

All Feral could do was gape at the SWAT Kat.....completely shocked that he could be magical too.

"I have a magical core?" He finally managed to say in a hushed voice.

T-Bone shrugged. "My Uncle Conall told me that many present day Kats possess a magical core gained from their ancestral lineage. It doesn't mean they can use it like a real wizard, their cores are dormant. My kind tried not to use any magic around those that weren't practitioners because it could cause misunderstandings and fear," he explained.

"So my abilities are dormant?" Feral said, feeling relief at that.

"Well not like others. You seemed to be a bit more sensitive than you should be. Sorry, I'm not experienced enough at this to know what's going on with you. Only someone with more experience can answer that for you. It may have to wait until this war is over, Commander," T-Bone said sympathetically.

All Feral could do was scowl at that but, honestly, he really didn't want to know anymore about it. It gave him the willies.


	10. Chapter 10

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 10: Making Battle Plans

"Alright, I'd rather shelve that problem for now, better yet, I'd rather not deal with it at all," Feral rumbled unhappily. "Instead, let's discuss what we need to do if that portal shows up again."

T-Bone sighed and slumped down on the couch. "As I told you before, Commander, you'll have to do the best you can defense-wise just as you would when the Pastmaster drops in on us. Only, unlike that little gnome, the creatures from my world are much more dangerous," he warned.

"So we've seen so far," Feral growled.

"Yes, but you needn't feel completely helpless, you just have to change your tactics. Lasers are worthless, as you've already discovered, however, some of the creatures are light sensitive, like the Hoblin I destroyed. Any really bright halogen-style lighting will be able to keep them at bay. To kill them requires cold iron. Unfortunately, we no longer make projectile weapons with iron so you're going to have to mass produce some immediately. Both swords and bullets made of iron will kill the Dark Fae. It will also harm me," he pointed out, grimly.

Razor blinked in confusion. "But the sword you used was made of iron," he objected.

"The blade but not the handle, that is why my uncle chose it. The runes on the blade showed it had belonged to one of our people but had been left behind during some past visit. Perhaps given to one of Queen Callista's knights," the tabby said, shrugging then grimaced, "and I just realized I gave it back to Dr. Sinian. Guess I'll have to go see her and retrieve it.....obviously I'm going to need it again."

"Okay, so I have to get iron bullets made for my troops and iron missiles, right?" Feral asked to be certain he had understood T-Bone as he made notes of what he needed to do.

"Wait, that won't work, Feral. I'd suggest resurrecting the shotgun and filling the casings them with iron fillings. It would be the simplest and quickest thing you could make. And you're right about missiles....just fill them with iron scrap. Add to that, for the ground troops in one on one battles, get some swords, spears, and maybe dredge up some cannons. Check with Dr. Sinian for those. They fired iron balls. Get your R & D to come up with just about anything that could spray iron dust over the Dark Fae," Razor rattled off as his mind raced ahead, designing what he needed for his own armaments.

"Come to think of it, iron dust is a great idea that I'll put in some of my missiles and glovatrix," he said speaking his thought aloud.

Feral stared at Razor in amazement. 'Damn this Kat is a walking, talking, weapon's designer. No wonder they can take the omegas the way they do, he's always thinking and planning on his feet,' he thought. Shaking his head and wishing they had that resource at their command, he said, "well, you've certainly given me a lot more to work with. I think we can get this done quickly and, this time, I don't think that fool of a Mayor will reject my request for the iron we'll need," he said slowly, planning as he was spoke.

The tabby nodded. "Glad to help, Feral. I also suggest you outfit your choppers and ground support with those high powered lights as well as portable ones to be carried by your troops."

Feral nodded, feeling a little better that he wouldn't be as helpless in this battle as he'd first feared.

"There might be another way to protect us as well.....Professor Hackle's robots," Razor added excitedly.

Feral eyed him nervously. This Kat's mind worked like an explosive trap. He never knew what that brilliant mind would come up with next, but robots.......?

Seeing Feral's look of disbelief, Razor quickly hurried on, keeping the tom from saying anything, "no.....hear me out! The professor's always going on about trying to make life easier for Katkind. Well now's his chance to save Katkind. I know he's a pacifist but maybe we can convince him this is a war Katkind can't win on it's own. T-Bone's part in this is to take on the King of the Dark Fae but it's up to you and I, Feral, to protect the city the best we can."

Feral rubbed his face and thought about it for a few minutes then nodded. "Much as I hate to admit it, you may have something there, SWAT Kat. But aren't Hackle's robots made of modern metal?"

"Yeah, they are but there's no reason he can't incorporate iron in their weapons. Hell, they could even get close enough to spray iron fillings or dust over the enemy better than we could and it would certainly cut down on the casualties. Besides that, the Dark Fae wouldn't be familiar with that kind of warrior. They'd not realize they weren't living at first, giving us a significant advantage."

All Feral could do was shake his head again. 'Kat's Alive! If only that Kat wasn't a vigilante, he could make sure the enforcers never lost so many during battle,' he thought bitterly. Shoving that thought aside as unproductive right now, he said, "alright, you've sold me. I'm tired of losing so many of my enforcers because of super enemies and lack of more up to date weapons. I want to win this time and it sounds like you've got us on the right track to do it."

He paused a moment in thought then said, "I suggest you two approach Hackle about this since, I wager, he'll be more open to the idea coming from you better than me. I suspect you have a much closer relationship with him, hmm?" He gave them a knowing look.

They couldn't help but flush a little at the pointed observation. Feral obviously wasn't as oblivious to what was going on around him as they had first assumed. In the future, they'd better remember that and not underestimate him any longer.

"If you do succeed in convincing him, you can tell him I'm in complete agreement. Promise him that I will only use his robots as part of the protective shield around the park and not in the active fighting. They will be integrated with my ground troops that will be keeping the conflict from reaching or harming innocent Katizens which, from what you've told me, is what he wanted them to be used for in the first place. I will even ensure the remainder that survive intact are returned to him with our thanks," Feral continued.

He paused and eyed the two a moment before adding, "if we can keep these creatures from going beyond the park then half the battle would be won. So, T-Bone.....is there anything else you can come up with that's from your magical side of this war that can help us?"

T-Bone shook his head. "Not at the moment, Commander. I have to finish the intensive training my uncle has planned for me, which will consist of sword fighting and spell casting, first before I'm of any use to anyone and I have no idea how long that will take, so let's hope the King is kept too busy fighting my mother's forces to try the portal again for a while longer. However, I wouldn't hope too much on that," T-Bone grimaced sourly.

"He wants me badly. I wish I could speak to my mother and find out how the war is going but I have no idea how to do that beyond opening the portal and we definitely don't want to do that until I'm ready," he added, unhappily.

"So, it's a waiting game," Feral grunted in resignation. "All we can do is prepare and wait, so get on with what you have to do and I'll take care of things at my end."

"Roger that, Commander. We'll keep in touch and to do that better...here is one of our communicators," Razor said as he handed Feral one of their small devices similar to the one they gave Callie only with a different frequency. "This will allow us to talk privately. We'll let you know immediately if we managed to get Hackle on board," he promised as the two of them rose to their feet and took their leave.

Feral sighed and stared at the small device in his palm. Shaking his head, he put the device in the pocket of his pants and began writing up his notes.

As he booted up his computer, he composed in his head what he needed to say. It took him a moment to realize the computer was spitting odd symbols and other nonsense across its screen. Scowling in disgust, he shut it off violently then dragged out his tablet to laboriously write out what he needed from the Mayor, making a note to himself to contact the techs to fix his computer.

He hoped the secretary's typewriter was working or he would be forced to give the Mayor a handwritten report. Once he had the main points down on paper for his R&D Section and for his second in command, he quickly wrote up the draft of his request to the Mayor. Finished, he got to his feet and went out to see his secretary.

"Here Mary....." he said, handing the draft over, "....I need this done immediately. Is your typewriter working alright?" He asked worriedly.

"Oh yes sir. Works fine!"

"Excellent. Also would you find Steele and have him meet me in R&D and contact the computer techs to come and fix my PC?"

"Yes sir, right away!"

Feral nodded then walked quickly toward the elevators then grimaced and changed direction for the stairs, the elevators were still down.

As he walked down, his mind went back to the request he was making to the Mayor. Without funding there was no way his R&D people could get their paws on enough raw iron to build the ammunition and make the weapons conversions they needed.

He didn't look forward to briefing his honor, that Kat was more likely to panic and nothing would get done. Ms. Briggs was aware of some of the danger but not where it was coming from, what T-Bone's part was in it, nor how much of this magical war was going to happen on Megakat City's turf.

'However, the Mayor being such a coward means he'll leave the dirty work to Briggs and that's a good thing for me since she will do what's necessary without all the histrionics,' Feral mused as he finally reached the sixth floor and push open the stair door, stepping out into the busy R&D Section.

While Feral was doing his part, the SWAT Kats were winging their way home. T-Bone's mind was already dwelling on how he would balance his jobs with the training he must do plus get enough rest in there somewhere so he wouldn't collapse from exhaustion at a really bad time. He startled when he realized Razor had been calling his name over the radio for some time now.

"What? You say something, buddy?"

"Yeah, at least I've been trying to for the last couple of minutes. You're doing some really deep thinking there, T-Bone. I thought that was my job?" He laughed, lightly.

T-Bone blushed a bit. "Uh, sorry, I was thinking about all the stuff I have to do and not burn out from exhaustion," he said, mildly sarcastic. "What did you want, buddy?"

"I was trying to tell you, we should go see the Professor right now. We really don't have a lot of time and he's going to need it to build an army of robots."

"Oh, you're right. But first we need to stop by the museum," T-Bone acknowledged, turning the nose of the Turbokat toward the Megakat Natural History Museum. "I'm going to need that sword to practice with and not the dream one my uncle's using."

"Good idea," Razor agreed.

They arrived at the museum within fifteen minutes and landed the jet behind the building. It was the busiest time of the day for the place and they didn't want to get mobbed by the visitors. Slipping in the way they had before, they were soon walking down an empty corridor toward Dr. Sinian's office.

Before they reached it, they ran in the doctor just stepping off an elevator they had just past.

"SWAT Kats? What are you doing here?" She asked from behind them.

Whirling around, they smiled at her as Razor spoke, "Hi doc! We need to ask you a favor. Let's go into your office."

Puzzled, she nodded and walked up to them then continued on to her office a little ways further down the corridor.

When Razor entered last, he pulled the door closed and let T-Bone ask for what he needed.

"Dr. Sinian, I need that sword I used to dispatch the Hoblin. I should have kept it but didn't know I was going to need it further. It does belong to my people anyway."

"Oh, then the picture we found that showed the sword being worn by one of your people was correct?"

"Yes. I realized it later when my uncle told me about the runes on the blade and why I was able to wield it so easily. As a matter of fact, he told me it belonged to another uncle of mine who died in the war," T-Bone explained.

"That is fascinating. I wonder how it managed to fall into Queen Callista's paws? Oh well, a mystery for another time when this is over and you can fill in some blanks for me. Since the sword legitimately belongs to your family, I have no problem turning it back over to you. Let's go retrieve it now," Abi Sinian said briskly, leading the way back out of her office and to the elevator. They went down two floors then got off where a small sprinkling of visitors were ambling along.

The SWAT Kats lead by Dr. Sinian hurried along so they wouldn't be stopped by gawkers. She reached a hall that said Medieval Era and made for a door at the left inside of the huge hall that displayed many of the things that had been used during Queen Callista's time. A smaller side room was where various weapons were on display.

Dr. Sinian approached a glass case to the left and did something to signal the security to be turned off before opening the case with a special key she had in her possession. T-Bone came forward and reverently lifted his deceased uncle's sword into his paws. He noticed it had been cleaned, making it shine brightly.

"Thanks, doc," he said quietly as he swung the sword experimentally before handing it over to Razor so he could wrap it in a canvas bag he'd brought from the jet. T-Bone had been very careful not to touch the blade.

Abi had been watching him closely and had noted the care with which T-Bone handled the sword. "Is the blade a threat to you?" She asked, curiously.

"Yeah, so I learned. The blade is made from iron and is deadly to all the Fae. Even if I'm a half breed, my uncle warned I would be harmed by it," T-Bone acknowledged.

"Interesting! Well I wish you good luck, T-Bone. Be safe," she said warmly before walking them back to the elevator.

"Thanks so much for this," T-Bone told her, gratefully. "Oh, before I forget......Feral is going to be contacting you about using your cannons and any iron based munitions and weapons you have. Hopefully, the city will compensate you for their use but it's important the enforcers get them. There simply is no time to make what is needed to fight the dark Fae."

Abi blinked at him in surprise then narrowed her eyes in thought. "I see......well I certainly don't want to hamper our efforts to defend ourselves against these creatures. I'll have all the iron we have ready for the Commander when he calls."

"Thank you! That will certainly save time," T-Bone said, sincerely grateful she wouldn't have a problem lending such valuable artifacts.

"You're very welcome."

With that, the two hurried off, they had to see Professor Hackle next. Hopefully, he would be just as cooperative.


	11. Chapter 11

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 11: Convincing the Professor

Hackle was surprised to see the SWAT Kats. Normally, they would contact him when they planned to visit, but he was even more surprised when they told him why they were there.

T-Bone's explanation of who and what he was as well as why the creatures were invading from another dimension, was met with stunned disbelief.

"Oh my! You're not from our dimension?" Hackle said, still trying to wrap his mind around the concept.

"Nope, and you aren't nearly as shocked as I was when I learned that not only am I half Kat and half alien but I'm a bonafide Prince as well!" T-Bone said, snorting in sardonic amusement.

Hackle could only shack his head and stare at T-Bone in amazement. The tom looked like an ordinary Kat so it was hard to believe he was much more than that. "So you're capable of magic and this isn't your true appearance?"

"You got it! I'm presently undergoing training by an image of my uncle. Until I know what the heck I'm doing, poor Feral and his enforcers must do what they can to protect the city from the creatures. To contain the danger, as best he can, he's set up a cordon around the park where the portal appears. I've given him the weaknesses for the creatures and that should help him a little but until I take out the King, it can only be a defensive battle on Megakat's part for now," he explained grimly. "Hopefully, it will never become more than that, if I'm successful."

"I see. This is a heavy burden your people have placed on your shoulders, my friend," Hackle said sadly.

"I know. It overwhelmed me at first when my mother's image told me what I was expected to do based on that prophecy and I tried to resist the information at first, but I realized I couldn't just turn my back on my people nor my adopted home. So here I am trying to learn in a hurry what takes normally years, to do what's expected of me," he said shrugging his shoulders resignedly.

"It seems unfair to me to put this much responsibility on your shoulders alone but as you said, you apparently have no choice. Though you do have to train in magic, it is to your benefit that you are a fit warrior already and trained in technological warfare plus have a partner to stand by you. That should count in your favor in the coming battle," Hackle said encouragingly.

"Well, yeah! That's what my uncle says as well. He was very relieved that I wasn't some couch potato or something.....makes his job of training me much easier, plus my techno knowledge will give me an edge over my own people who are totally unfamiliar with it."

"So, why have you come to me? I have no weapons nor abilities against magic either," Hackle asked, getting them back to the reason for their visit.

"We know, but hoped you'd be willing to use your robots to assist the enforcers......" Razor began to explain but was stopped by a shake of the older tom's head.

"No! I'm sorry, but that goes against everything I stand for and believe in. No robot of mine will be involved in a war especially one that isn't of our making," he said firmly.

"Professor, I understand how you feel. You want to use robots to make life easier for Katkind. I get that, but unfortunately, if this war spills out into ours, as it's looking to do, there won't be anyone to use the robots because they will either destroy us completely or enslave us," Razor pleaded with the elderly tom. "And you did lend us a robot to fight the Pastmaster's mummies," he reminded him.

Hackle simply shook his head again. "That was to help you. Our city needs you and I felt cybertron would be able to ensure you would continue to do so."

T-Bone sighed in frustration and rubbed his face a moment before trying a different approach. "And we truly appreciated it! Look! The war is in another dimension and we'd like to keep it there. By keeping the park surrounded with huge spotlights and enforcers armed with iron, no Fae should be able to escape and create havoc among Katkind. All your robots would be needed for is to help the enforcers maintain that cordon. After all, they don't need to sleep and are alert 24/7 while enforcers are mortal and will get tired and careless during the night hours the watch must be at its peak," he explained. "Now, isn't that what you wanted your robots to do as part of your plan to make life easier for KatKind? Isn't having them do simple guard and police duties part of that? Or did I get your mission wrong?"

Hackle blinked at T-Bone in surprise. He'd never considered the bigger SWAT Kat to be much of a deep thinker but, he reminded himself, he never really knew T-Bone that well in the first place. He sighed, turning away for a moment to think.

Yes, he had that intention in mind but this trod very close to being involved with killing. He turned around, narrowing his eyes as he responded, "But I never meant for them to kill for any reason!"

"I understand and they won't! We'll make sure Feral is aware of their limitations and never tries to order them to do that. Just the robots being there with their high powered lights and powerful metal frames will keep the dark fae at bay so the enforcers can either shove the fae back or dispatch them. That alone will make all the difference in keeping kats from dying or allowing the war to invade this dimension," T-Bone said solemnly.

Hackle eyed him for some minutes before finally coming to a decision. T-Bone was right, this was the kind of mission he had planned for his helper robots.

"Alright, under those circumstances and for those reasons only, will I be willing to make robots for this job. You say you need them outfitted with high powered lights.......anything else they need to do their job adequately and how many will you need?"

T-Bone gave Razor a quick glance showing his relief and that his partner should be the one to tell the Professor what was needed. Razor nodded his understanding and explained, "I would say at least a thousand would be enough to intermingle with the enforcers and surround the park sufficiently. We need them to be armed with weapons that shoot only iron dust or fillings or both. That is our enemies weakness......it won't kill them but it will hurt and discourage them. The enforcers will be armed with the same thing but will also have iron swords and missiles loaded with iron for a more deadly response, if needed."

Hackle shoulders relaxed immediately. Iron fillings and dust would be harmless to Kats and would only discourage the enemy.......that more than anything they had said, relieved his mind that no killing by his robots would happen except by accident. "Excellent, I'll get right on it and should have the number you need in about a week. That's as fast as I can do it."

"That's better than I hoped for, Professor. Thank you so much! One more thing though, please insure they can't be controlled by anyone but Feral and whoever else he wants as his second and third. We don't need criminals getting a hold of your robots and causing trouble. We've seen first hand, courtesy of the Pastmaster, what could happen to us all when the Metallikats did it in an altered future. It was a nightmare," Razor warned.

A shocked look came over Hackle's face. "What happened?"

"You used a central matrix setup and the Pastmaster took the Metallikats to the building you had it in and they took it over. The world was nearly all robotic and Katkind was dying horribly."

"Oh no! That's terrible!" Hackle said, his eyes wide with shock and anguish. "I swear, I will be more careful with their programming. Thank you for warning me since that was the method I intended to use."

"That's all I ask, Professor. We'd better go, we've lots of work to do. When you've finished building them, contact Feral directly to get training on them and to pick them up," Razor told the older tom.

"Understood! Good luck on your training, T-Bone."

"Thanks professor, I'm going to need it!" The tabby said, as the two of them took their leave and flew home.

Less than thirty minutes later after the SWAT Kats had returned to their hangar, Feral was putting a secret communicator away in his pocket. He sighed with relief.

Razor had just informed him that he and T-Bone had managed to convince Hackle to make robots to augment his enforcers. He felt so much better now about their chances of keeping this magical enemy at bay and off Megakat turf. Now all he had to do was obtain the funding he needed to acquire the iron, old weaponry, and covering the loss or damage of weapons borrowed from the museum.

His R&D Section was already preparing what they needed to convert their present weaponry and to make what else they needed once he'd secured the funding to purchase iron. He also received a call from Dr. Sinian on her cooperation in giving over all the iron weaponry the museum had per the SWAT Kat's request. That had relieved him of having to ask her himself.

Armed with this information on Hackle, Dr. Sinian's cooperation, and the weapons requirements Razor had given him, he made ready to leave to see the Mayor and Ms. Briggs. He wasn't looking forward to the meeting. Grabbing his notes, he stepped down from his pedestal desk and made for the coat rack near the door. Pulling his coat on, he stepped out of his office and paused near his secretary.

"Mary, I'll be at the Mayor's office, if I'm needed. I have my radio!"

"Yes sir!"

He left her and made for the elevator. By the time he reached the street, he was gritting his teeth. The elevator was still out and the sight of the mess his headquarters was in made him sick. The lengthy walk down the multiple steps to the lobby had only inflamed his anger at the damages done to his building.

Within minutes, he was in his hummer and driving to headquarters. In his head, he was composing the best way to present the news of a possible invading army from another dimension, T-Bone's true status, and what Feral needed to defend the city.

'This will go over well......not!' He grumbled mentally. Managing to find his normal parking spot not having been taken as it usually was, he pulled in, shut the engine and got out. He walked briskly up the broad steps of city hall and across the large lobby for the elevators.

Arriving on the top floor moments later, he stepped out of the car and down the thickly carpeted hallway heading past many offices until he reached the deputy and Mayor's offices at the end of the hall.

"Good afternoon, Commander," the mayor's secretary said brightly.

Feral nodded at her. "The mayor and deputy in? I need to see them."

She frowned a moment in thought then said, "just a sec and I'll check....." reaching for her intercom to call the Mayor's inner sanctum. Receiving no answer right away, she pressed a different button and had better luck as a familiar voice drifted out.

"Yes, Dena?"

"Ms. Briggs is the Mayor there with you?"

"Yes, he is. What do you need?"

Commander Feral is here to see you both," Dena reported dutifully.

"Oh, alright, have him go to the Mayor's office, thanks!" Ms. Briggs responded.

Feral walked past the secretary's desk without waiting for her to turn back to him and entered the Mayor's large, richly decorated office.

The Mayor and Ms. Briggs were just entering from her private entrance to his office.

"Well, do you have answers for me on where those strange things came from and why they nearly tore apart my city hall?" The Mayor suddenly demanded without preamble.

He was understandably upset by the sudden attack from creatures no one could see but the damages were plainly obvious. Though city hall suffered less destruction than the enforcer building, it still had caused much consternation and hit his honor's pocket book which was a good way to get his attention as well as being concerned the creatures could come back again and finish the job.

Feral grimaced at the Mayor's almost accusatory question but gave his report without making any sarcastic remarks, no matter how badly he wanted to.

"It seems all our problems have originated from another dimension through the portal that had appeared in Megakat Park. There is a war going on between light and dark Fae kingdoms, as they are called there. It spilled into our dimension due to one person.......the SWAT Kat T-Bone," Feral dropped the bomb.

"What?" Manx blurted, gaping at Feral.

"Commander Feral! You are always trying to blame the SWAT Kats for nearly everything that seems to happen........" Callie began to rant angrily.

Feral held up his paw to get their attention. "Actually, Ms. Briggs, it truly is his fault but only indirectly. If you would just listen!"

She scowled at him and crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm listening!"

The Mayor huffed but stayed silent and did the same.

"What I was told by T-Bone, himself, was he had been left here as a kitten by his mother, the Queen of the light Fae to keep him safe from the deadly paws of the dark Fae King. T-Bone's father had already been killed by this enemy and surprisingly, he was a native Megakat Katizen. Apparently, the light Fae made visits to our dimension from time to time but hadn't for many centuries until that night when the Queen left her kitten here for safety.

T-Bone grew up not knowing any of this until recently, the artifacts his mother left him, began to contact him in dreams just before the portal appeared. The dark Fae King is looking for T-Bone to slay him because a prophecy at the SWAT Kats birth foretold he would bring the King down.

Here's where we got our first piece of luck. The medallion T-Bone wears is a learning device and it helped him defeat that huge creature that had first come out of the portal hunting him then it taught him the spells he needed to get rid of those damn Fremlins that made everything break down around us," Feral told them, pausing to let that sink in.

Both Manx and Briggs could only gape at him.

Shaking her head, Callie said in resignation, "you know, if it weren't for experiments gone wrong and the insane ingenuity of the omegas, I would have said you'd lost your mind spouting such nonsense but I know no way could you have made up something like that."

"What does this mean to us? Are we in danger still? Why can't that SWAT Kat go there and fight these creatures?" The Mayor said, beginning to wring his paws in fear.

Feral sighed. Now comes the hard part. "At the moment, the portal is closed. T-Bone did that when he killed the Hoblin. And he can't open it.....he doesn't know how. Right now he is in training so he can wield magic and take out the fae King. Meanwhile, we're still doing repairs of Enforcer Headquarters from the vanquished Fremlins. Unless the omegas come out of hiding and give us trouble, we're alright for the moment but it won't last long. Not knowing how the battle is going on the other side of that portal makes it hard to determine when it will open again."

Callie frowned worriedly when she heard how T-Bone was being forced to face this evil basically alone.....that didn't seem fair but there was apparently nothing any of them here could do about it so she focused on what she could take care of. She hadn't missed hearing Feral say, 'repairs to Enforcer Headquarters'......that would be very bad for the city of Megakat if their enforcers were too busy repairing their facility to defend the city.

"I heard those creatures did more damage to you than us. How bad is it?" She asked in concern.

"Bad! It will take us more than another two days to be battle ready and four more to be back to normal," he told her grimly.

"What?..B-B-But if the omegas attack now........?" Mayor Manx stuttered anxiously.

"There's nothing more I can do about that except to work my crews 24/7 until we're completely operational once more," Feral growled. "The SWAT Kats will be there to back us up but I'd rather not count on them too much or T-Bone won't have time to finish his training and that is more important. There is one piece of good news though.......something about the magic T-Bone uses is incompatible with the one the Pastmaster utilizes so he won't be showing his face at all."

"Small consolation," Manx muttered, not mollified at all.

Feral could only shrug at that comment.

"Its weird to hear you talk about back up support from the SWAT Kats when you usually hate their interference," Callie said, amazed at his about face stance.

Scowling, Feral said, "only because that damn pilot is our only salvation against what's trying to come through that portal."

"It's still weird!"

Sighing, Feral really couldn't argue with that so he returned to his briefing. "Anyway, in preparation of the portal's possible opening, T-Bone told me how I could keep the city from becoming a battle ground. His world can't handle iron and the dark Fae are particularly affected by very bright light. As a protective defense, I have surrounded the park with huge spotlights and a ring of enforcers. By themselves, the lights and my enforcers, won't be able to hold any dark Fae off for long. We need weapons that will help keep the dark Fae from leaving the park at all and hopefully push them back through the portal or kill them.

To do that we will need iron and lots of it. Razor suggested shotguns loaded with iron bullets, sprayers holding iron filings and dust, bazooka's loaded with iron debris, old cannons with iron musket balls, and swords of iron. The last two items would have to be borrowed from the museum and Dr. Sinian has already given permission for us to use everything she has. What I need from you, Mayor, is the funding to get the rest of the iron and lights we need.

Finally, the SWAT Kats went to see Professor Hackle and prevailed upon him to make robots to circle the park and augment my enforcers. He won't allow them to be used to kill the enemy but just being armed with iron filings and dust as well as their strong metal bodies will be enough to keep the dark fae from leaving the park," Feral finished.

Manx went to his desk and sat down hard in his plush leather chair. Eyeing Feral heavily for a long moment. "We don't have a choice do we?" He asked, rhetorically, not expecting an answer. Feral just nodded and watched him expectantly. Sighing again, the Mayor turned to his deputy.

"Whatever he needs, Callie, see that he gets it. Use the emergency funds if you have to," Mayor Manx said resignedly.

Callie nodded. "Don't worry, Mayor Manx, I'll take care of it," she said briskly, glad he hadn't balked too much about this.

"I need to get out of here, my nerves are shot. Keep me informed," Manx muttered, lunging from his seat, striding across the room to grab his golf clubs and vanishing through the door as if his tail was on fire.

Once he was gone, Callie turned to Feral and sighed. "What he failed to realize is he's used much of the emergency fund for his many projects. I guess I'll just have to 'borrow' them back," she said, mildly amused.

Feral gave her a wolfish smile in return, knowing exactly how she felt. "Thanks Ms. Briggs. I'll keep you informed of our progress."

"Thank you, Commander," she said then frowned. "We're in really hot water aren't we?"

"Definitely! About as hot as it gets when the omegas attack. At least we don't have the Pastmaster to worry about. I don't mind saying how much I hate feeling helpless against magic. At least with what T-Bone told me, we won't be completely helpless against magic this time."

"That's good to know but what about the chances of the other omegas attacking during this time especially while you're temporarily down?"

"I have no idea! They aren't any better equipped against magic than us though that didn't seem to stop them even with the Pastmaster around. However, between you and me, I hope they saw what went down at the park and decide to sit this one out. We can only hope!" Feral said grimacing in concern. That was the other worry he had but there really wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Then I'll hope for the same," Callie sighed in resignation. "I'll make some calls immediately and get you the funds you need as fast as possible. Do you know where you'll get the iron from?" She asked as she walked back into her office and he followed.

"I hadn't had time to check yet."

"I'll do it then since I'm the one paying. I know of one place for some of it and that's the salvage yard. The other will be the iron processing plant on the north side of the city. What about the lights?"

"I know someone I can get them from. You want me to tell them to bill you for their rental?"

"Yes, do that. Well, I've certainly got my work cut out," she sighed, sitting behind her desk and preparing to make some calls.

"I'll leave you to it then, Ms. Briggs. I've got a lot of work to do as well," he said, nodding at her then taking his leave as she picked up her phone and dialed. He was greatly relieved he hadn't had to fight too hard to get funds....this time anyway.


	12. Chapter 12

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 12: Beyond the Portal

Hidden away, in the most mountainous and inhospitable area of their world, the Queen of the Light Fae sat staring into the crude fireplace of her temporary abode. She rubbed her temples to try and ease her tired mind. A quiet movement and brief swish of air were her only warning that someone had entered the room.

She tensed to leap away if necessary but relaxed in the next moment as she recognized her brother who walked toward her and took a seat in the other chair across from her.

"You look very tired, Sorcha," he said, in quiet concern as he slumped, stretching his long legs out before the fire and folding his wings tight to his back.

"I am Conall but there's been no time for much rest as you well know," she sighed.

"Aye that I do."

Silence fell for some minutes before she asked, "so what is the news?"

He sighed and stared up at the high ceiling above him as if it would have the answers he sought. "The Dark King has moved his forces through the Aziza's territory, chasing the good people before his dark hordes. They seek sanctuary with us and I granted it."

She moaned in distress. So many of her people were being chased from their homes, many killed or captured with the remnants barely managing to reach her meager place of safety. The war was wearing on her. After more than a century of fighting, all were sick of it but not the Dark King. His need to rule drove him onward.

Truly, he must be mad for no Fae would fight this long for so little reward...dead Fae could not be ruled over and if he persisted in this mad quest, that was what he would have. It just made no sense to her but she'd long since given up trying to make sense of Gareth's mind. Once they tolerated each others presence because that was the way of the world...light and dark balancing one another...but he no longer wanted to share...he wanted it all and the reason was still unknown to her.

Shaking her head to clear it, she shoved the unproductive memories of what once was, from her mind and focused on their one and only hope.

"Any word on my son?" She asked.

Conall shook his head. "Not since that brief moment when the portal was open and you were able to feel the medallion activated plus the sudden excitement caused by the King's most prized Hoblin being killed and tossed through the portal."

"Yes, which tells us Lorcan is alive and well and powerful since he shut the portal as well, but nothing else," she said, unhappily.

"That is still good news, Sorcha. At least now there is hope this will all end soon," he soothed her.

"Aye, you are right. I must not lose hope or my people will. Perhaps its time to remind them all of the prophecy, let them know my son lives, and to try and encourage them to fight just a little while longer," she said, slowly.

"A wise idea, my Queen. I have noted many losing heart over this long struggle and the fears that it will never end. The only thing they can't be reminded of is the significant time difference between here and the other world," Conall said, ruefully.

She grimaced at that reminder. Time moved so much faster here than the snail's pace on Aristal where her son now dwelled. But there was nothing she could do about that. "I'm certain he is aware of that as well and is working hard to ready himself to come here," she said stoutly.

"I'm sure you are right, to think otherwise is just too depressing," he said, dryly.

"So true."

She closed her eyes and remembered the sweet little kitten she'd cuddled so short a time before unwillingly abandoning him on his father's world, praying to all her deities that he survived and was being raised by good people. Oh, how her arms ached for him still. It hurt to know she'd missed his growing years and would only see him as an adult now.

But what an adult he would be, she was certain. Gloriously handsome and strong. Lorcan being a half breed would be far stronger than any Fae which was why the Dark King feared him.

Which was why he desperately needed to be trained. All true blooded Fae were born with the knowledge and skill to use their powers, but Lorcan, as a half breed, did not, which was why she had made the training medallion with Conall's essence. Her brother was a powerful warrior and excellent teacher and the only person she trusted to do what was necessary to make her son ready for his destiny.

It tore her heart to pieces to leave his small body under that bush and hated even more the necessity of binding Lorcan's powers and true appearance into his body, but it was the only way he could live undetected on Aristal.

Now that he was an adult, the medallion she'd left with him should have told him his history and begun his training. She was assuming by the death of the Hoblin, Lorcan had learned enough to defeat it and close the portal. At least she had to hope it was he that had done that. The thought the Kats of Aristal had somehow managed to become conversant with magic enough to do, made her uneasy. But the last time her kind had visited that world, she had seen science held full sway and she could feel only remnants of Queen Callista's magic in her descendants.

No, she felt certain that it had to have been Lorcan and his newly restored powers that had done the deed. She dearly wished she could peer through a portal to see him but the Gareth had blocked all of them from her. At least she had managed to keep him from realizing her son had survived the attack that had killed her beloved Alister. Hiding Lorcan on Aristal was the only way her son would live to adulthood without Gareth being aware he still lived.

Unfortunately, very recently, Gareth did learn of her son's hiding place and had sent that Hoblin to find him. Well, at least the Dark King must be feeling some fear now when his ugly minion was returned very dead.

'Now you feel the fear you've inflicted upon us at last Gareth...may it choke you,' she thought with dark relish.

Her momentary glee vanished when her mind turned to her son again. The weight of saving his world now rested on his untried shoulders. It was a lot to ask of him, but she knew he would not fail her...a tiny part of her mind feared he might not want to come home or see her after what she'd done, but she squashed that traitorous thought quickly. She could not afford to doubt herself or her son now or all hope would truly be lost.

No...she must fight on in the belief her son would come to the rescue of his people and do it soon before there were no one left to save.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

In a dark castle many league's from the Queen's pitiful hiding place in the mountains, the one under discussion was sitting on his throne, brooding.

He was furious when he learned Sorcha's son had succeeded in surviving and had been sent to that ridiculous place called Aristal by its mortal inhabitants. He must snatch the prince before the Queen could retrieve him but in planning the mission, he failed to remember the difference in time between the worlds so thought the prince was still a kitten and easily captured.

Keeping the Queen's forces at bay, he sent his best warrior, huge Hoblin that had been in his army for centuries, to retrieve the prince. He wanted to see the kit first then dangle it before its mother, hoping to trap her and gain the throne of light as well as the dark without further conflict.

The first report he'd received had been only about their successful entry to that other world. But the next time he heard from his warrior it was in the form of the Hoblin's dead body being tossed like so much offal, through the portal then the portal was closed. Not even his vaunted power could open it again.

This angered and scared him to the depths of his dark heart. The prophecy seemed much closer to fruition than he'd ever dreamed. When he deigned to ask one of his advisers it was then he was reminded of the time differences and realized Prince Lorcan was an adult not some mewling kitten.

He'd nearly killed them all when his temper exploded but for once he managed to rein it in. Now wasn't the time. And time was what was against him now. He had no real idea how soon the portal would reopen and the Prince stepped through to fulfill the prophecy and kill him.

Cursing, he called all his generals together. His plan now was simple...send his forces to guard every single portal. The Queen, now that she knew her son was alive and well, would certainly make a concerted push to get through one of the portals herself. He had to prevent that at all costs.

This war had now stepped up a notch...the life of the prince being the pivotal piece that would decide who would win all. After all his dreams and plans, he would not fail now. He would be king of all Alaria.

This new development made his fury even more deadly making his army and advisers very wary of him. Many were nervous and concerned that death awaited them all since the King's madness overtook him. A cruel leader, he'd been before, but he was respected and honored for the powerful leader he was, however ever since he began to unravel, everyone in his kingdom were leery of him.

Gareth did have his die hard warriors that would lay down their lives for him but for the others with more level heads, they felt the winds were changing and made plans to bring down their own King before he destroyed all of Alaria with his madness.

So while the King planned his strategy to protect the portals from the Queen and killing the prince before he could step foot on Alaria, this small band of traitors made their own plans to undermine him and help the Queen to restore their world to a normal balance.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

It was shortly after word had been received of the Hoblin's death and the portal's being closed that the Queen went to hold a conclave with the leaders of her armies and of those who didn't fight but were just as important to their well being as the warriors.

They gathered around her in a huge circle, silence filling the large space as they waited for her to speak.

"My good people! You've fought hard to save our world from the darkness that threatens to engulf it all with no hope of reward. I am here to tell you the end is here at last. My son, Prince Lorcan lives and it was he that dispatched the Hoblin and closed the portals. The prophecy is coming true. When my son is completely trained in his powers, he will come through and bring down the Dark King."

A roar of relief and joy filled the room. She smiled benevolently down at them as their enthusiasm poured over her. Raising her arms, she asked for their attention once more. They went quiet and listened, smiles on their faces and a renewed hope filling them.

"Now, what we must do is make a push to cease the portal the Hoblin was sent through. It's obvious to me that will be where my son will enter. Unfortunately, the Dark King has learned of my son's survival and the attempt that killed the Hoblin was the result so he will be trying to keep us from all the portals and press us even harder.

I know we are all tired of this war he's brought upon us but I implore you all to have the strength to hold on just a little longer. We are closer to freedom than ever before. Just a little more effort and we'll have peace again.

Are you with me?"

A roar of approval and cries for the King's head greeted her plea. She smiled in relief and joined them in their roar of defiance against the King.

_**Author's Note: Places and terms I'm using explained: **_

_**Aziza: A beneficent fairy race that lives in a forest and provides good magic to hunters. They are also give practical and spiritual knowledge to people. Many of their elders are called the White Fae and hold positions as the Queen or King's advisers.**_

_**Hoblin: A goblin type creature, cruel, ugly, powerful and hard to kill. They are the main fighters of the Dark King's army and his guards.**_


	13. Chapter 13

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 13: Training is Brutal

Beads of sweat kept dripping into Chance's eyes as he wielded the sword in his paws, in an upward motion to counter his uncle's slash at his face. They'd been at this for more than two hours already and his arms were about ready to fall off. He was strong and worked himself hard with weights and karate with his partner but this took a different type of strength and skill which was brutal and exhausting.

His Uncle Conall was a harsh taskmaster and expected nothing less than best from his nephew then expected him to top that. As he told Chance early on, two worlds were depending on him to do the utmost he could to save them from the Dark King.

Only in the dark of night, as he tried to get his exhausted mind and body to sleep, would he allow himself to admit how overwhelmed and afraid he felt having such a heavy responsibility laid on his shoulders.

It had been a month since he'd begun his rigorous training and he was feeling every moment of it. Conall would alternate sword fighting with knife work then teach him how to use his wings to his advantage when fighting the huge Hoblins and other such evil warriors who were ground bound. To give him a sense of realism, his uncle would conjure up magical constructs of the enemies he would face...now that was just plain scary as the things were worse than anything Viper had ever produced and far deadlier.

Other days, Conall would give him history and magical lessons then work him hard until he could use all the fighting spells his uncle knew as well as the basic simple spells used by the Fae in daily life.

It was a grueling schedule and one that left him no time to help his partner in the garage or fly as a SWAT Kat. But Jake told him that his job was to learn to be a Fae.

"This enemy is far more deadlier than any of the omegas here, buddy and according to everything you've told us, you are the only one who can defeat the Dark King. Sacrificing the garage work and being a SWAT Kat is nothing compared to what you have to learn to be a Fae warrior. Let me handle our life and you just concentrate on being the Fae you're supposed to be," he said, reassuringly, giving his friend a commiserating slap to the back.

Jake could easily see the toll all the training was taking on his best friend but he could also see the warrior he was becoming. He'd only seen Chance a few times in his true form but those glimpses filled him with awe. The tabby looked incredibly and ethereally beautiful.

There was one major worry Jake kept hidden from his partner and that was: would Chance return to Aristal once he'd saved his mother's world? He was a prince after all, however, if his mother managed to survive to remain ruler, then perhaps Chance would come back to Aristal. But there were so many variables that could happen in a battle there was just no way to know until it was all over what would happen to the throne.

But it worried Jake nonetheless. He sighed and shoved it away. There was really no point obsessing about it since he could do nothing to change what was to come and didn't want Chance distracted from his training by discussing it, so he kept it to himself.

So he struggled to maintain the work in the garage to keep money in their pockets and pay their bills as well as doing a patrol once a week by himself. Fortunately, the omegas seemed to have chosen to stay hidden or in jail, making the city rather peaceful for the moment. Feral was maintaining the cordon around the park 24/7 and nothing stirred from that quarter giving the Commander time to repair his headquarters. So they all got a much needed break from fighting at least.

But as they moved into the second month, first Viper than Dark Kat decided it was safe enough for them to make a move. Since no word of what had come out of the park had been released to the public, neither omega was aware that a greater threat was hanging over their entire world and not just Megakat City so they blithely continued with their own grand schemes for taking over the city.

It was Chance that dissuaded them in that arena when he decided to just put them away using his newly acquired skills so he could continue his training. He simply didn't have the time or patience for their continual interference and single minded attempts at disrupting the peace of the city.

So when Viper appeared on the scene with his wildly mutated vines crawling up city hall with the apparent plan to kidnap the Mayor and Deputy, he ran into a major and unexpected road block.

Jake had begun to spend every spare moment he had building weapons that he hoped would help in the fight on Alaria. Chance didn't know it, but Jake fully intended to go with his partner. So when the call came in on this quiet afternoon, he was annoyed and reluctant to stop since there was no telling when he'd get another moment for his work but knew Callie wouldn't call unless it was an emergency. He flicked the alarm off and picked up the phone.

"Yes, Ms. Briggs?" He asked, sighing mentally at the interruption.

"Razor...hurry...Viper is trying to kidnap the Mayor..." Callie shouted then her comm unit went dead.

"Shit!" Jake growled. He reached up and slammed a palm against a different alarm. This one he'd installed in Chance's training room. It would warn of a major SWAT Kat alert that would require interruption of the tabby's training session.

By the time Jake had dressed and made for the Turbokat, footsteps behind him told him his partner had arrived to join him.

Chance was sweaty, tired, and annoyed when the alarm went off. Apologizing to his uncle, he hurriedly left the room, saving time by using magic to change his clothes, then running to join his partner. Magic did have some uses and his uncle wanted him to use it at every opportunity even for the most mundane thing to strengthen his skills. But it could never replace the feel of the Turbokat as it roared through the hidden tunnel and into the sky. Yeah, having wings was kinda cool but it couldn't take the place of this powerful machine he flew. He might be a Prince and Fae but he would always be a pilot and a SWAT Kat as well.

He flew them at top speed to get to city hall quickly. When they arrived, city hall was surrounded by those thorny vines Viper favored and the sky was filled with those annoying and dangerous flying plantimals that spit acid plus the huge hornets that shot thorns at their targets.

Instead of diving right in, T-Bone took a high position in the sky and studied the situation for some moments.

"What are you doing, buddy?" Razor asked, confused.

"I don't have time for a prolonged battle, so I want to see what I can do that will end this quickly," the tabby told him, distractedly then suddenly took the jet down into the battle, placing them firmly in the center of the action.

The enforcers had arrived by this time and were engaging the hornets and plantimals with predictable results as jets and choppers began to fall from the sky like dead flies due to their weapons not being up to task against the things.

When the Turbokat joined the battle, T-Bone yelled into his radio, "Razor, go ahead and try and clear the sky while I dispose of those vines before they can take off with the Mayor and Callie."

Not waiting for a response from his partner, T-Bone put the jet on VTOL and set the autopilot to hold their position before opening the canopy.

Meanwhile, Razor fired missiles that he'd developed just for this instance. The new missiles fired a baking soda like powder that covered and filled the mouths of the acid spitters which clogged their throats and caused the acid to back up in their bodies, exploding them. It worked very well as the plantimals popped like grotesque balloons.

Below them, the vines and Viper were already holding the Mayor and Callie in their deadly embrace and were trying to slither away by reversing their trek back down the tall city hall building with their victims.

T-Bone raised his paws, muttered a spell then fired it at the vines. It struck the main trunk with deadly accuracy and vanished it. Another quickly muttered spell caught the suddenly free-falling Mayor and Callie in an invisible cushion of air that gently lifted them upward and back through the window they'd been pulled through. Viper, however, was allowed to continue falling to the ground. Seconds later, he impacted the unforgiving concrete sidewalk making a rather messy smear.

Feral had been one of the choppers disabled and sent toward the ground but true to his own form of luck, he survived the crash with only minor bumps and bruises. He had run to the scene of the main battle in time to nearly be crushed by the falling body. He managed to halt his forward motion in time to avoid becoming a casualty although not soon enough to prevent being sprayed with blood and other unmentionable fluids from Viper's body. He grimaced in disgust at his now filthy uniform.

He looked up and saw the Mayor and Ms. Briggs just disappearing, safely, inside the building. Looking up at the sky, he witnessed the Turbokat being surrounded by Viper's deadly hornets. The acid spitters were conspicuously missing which told him Razor must have disposed of them. As he watched, the hornets suddenly stopped their attack and were now falling from the sky from nothing he could visually see. He suspected T-Bone was the one responsible for the hazard heading for him.

"TAKE COVER!" He shouted to his enforcers, causing them to scramble for shelter from the falling insects.

He ducked into a nearby sedan just in time as the heavy bugs crashed down and damaged cars and light poles. Feral stared up at the thing nearly crushing the top of the car he took refuge in.

The whole battle took only fifteen minutes and now all was silent except for the sound of the black jet still hovering over the scene. Feral no longer had anything left airborne since he'd not bothered to call for backup when he saw the SWAT Kats seemed to have things well in paw.

Now all he and his enforcers had to do was clean up. He could only shake his head in amazement. He knew T-Bone had used magic during the battle because he had felt it in his body. Apparently, after that first time being exposed to it on the enforcer flight line, he was now very sensitive to its use despite it being some distance from him.

As he watched, the Turbokat switched to forward motion and disappeared rapidly back to their hidden hangar. Feral guessed T-Bone was anxious to get back to his training. The rare few times he'd actually seen the SWAT Kat, he could see the difference in the tom. He was definitely becoming a formidable warrior but he was also thoroughly exhausted. He hoped the tom held up and survived his training.

Sighing, he shook his head, climbed out of the car, then bellowed for his enforcers to begin cleanup. As he stared down at what had been Viper, he felt a small measure of satisfaction. One more omega that would never plague them again.

Sure, they were supposed to arrest and try the omegas, but these guys just never stayed in jail to come to trial. For once, he wasn't going to say anything about one of them finally meeting his end. He knew T-Bone could have saved him the same way he'd done with the Mayor and Ms. Briggs but it was obvious, he too, was just fed up with the repetitive fighting and decided to just put an end to it.

Feral could hardly wait to see what the half breed Fae would do to Dark Kat. He almost pitied the megalomaniac...almost. He smiled to himself and returned to work.


	14. Chapter 14

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 14: Another Enemy Down

Feral didn't have to wait long to see T-Bone tangle with Dark Kat. Less than a few weeks after Viper's attack and demise, Dark Kat made an appearance.

Not concerned nor caring why Viper was dead, Dark Kat's only thought on the subject was not having to worry about sharing the city with the mutant any longer...not it would be all his. He'd been planning this campaign for years. All his previous attacks had only been test runs for this major assault. This time he meant to win and he planned carefully accordingly.

Of course, since he didn't know about a certain SWAT Kat's new abilities, he could perhaps be forgiven for being so wrongly confident.

It was a cold, rainy night when he launched his attack. First, he flew his eerily quiet Black Widow over the Megakat Power Plant and with a well placed missile, he knocked out the main power grid, plunging the whole city in the dark.

It helped most of the city was asleep because he wasn't interested in the populace as much as he desired crippling its defenders by shutting down their power.

Like a swarm of angry bees, the enforcers went into action. After having to deal with the Fremlins, the enforcers had learned not to rely so much on their technology so wasn't as unsettled by the loss of power as Dark Kat had hoped.

The on duty officer in charge quickly ordered a patrol to check and see what had happened at the plant. Though knocked out of the sky the moment he encountered the Black Widow, the pilot still managed to send a warning to the dispatch.

A radio toned urgently in a dark apartment. A large paw reached out and grabbed it. Feral had only gone to sleep a few hours ago and was angry at being awakened.

"Feral!"

"Sir, Major Landsfur! Dark Kat has knocked out all the power to the city and is on his way to Enforcer Headquarters."

"Damn!" Feral cursed, sitting up in a hurry. "Send out alpha jet and chopper squadrons ASAP and send a chopper for me!"

"Yes sir!"

Feral got up and carefully moved around in the dark to get dressed. Pulling his great coat on he reached into his pocket and pulled out the communicator he'd left there since he was given it. He'd had no need for it for awhile but now he knew he'd need them now. A groggy voice answered the call.

"Razor!"

"Dark Kat has knocked out the power to the city and is heading for my headquarters."

"Shit! Be there in five!" The connection cut out.

Nodding to himself, Feral hurried from his apartment and made his way to the roof. A chopper was just arriving to pick him up, though it was having a tough time setting down from all the wind and rain. It finally managed to and Feral dashed under the spinning blades and climbed aboard. The flight was nerve wrecking and nauseating from all the buffeting.

When he arrived, the roof cannons were firing on the barely seen Black Widow hovering not far away. A brilliant light flickered showing a missile had been fired from the enemy and seconds later it struck the flight line with a boom. A huge hole now marred the runway...no more jets could take off from there but he still had choppers, however they were no match for that thing. They might as well have been just flies for all the damage they'd be able to do.

Growling angrily, Feral leaped from the chopper and hurried inside to the stairwell as he wanted to get to the roof cannons himself.

Just as he got there, another missile struck and destroyed one of the cannons, the concussive force sending enforcers flying across the rain swept roof and Feral back down the stairs. Picking himself up, he hurried back outside. The last cannon was valiantly trying to tag the Black Widow with no luck, it was simply too agile and the storm and darkness made it hard to see.

Suddenly there was another boom, this time in the air. Feral looked up but could see nothing at first then the bloom of four engines lit the night sky despite the rain that had picked up and was making things even more difficult. The SWAT Kats had arrived, much to his relief.

"That bastard! The flight line is a mess and one gun is gone, T-Bone! Let me try a few of my newer missiles to see if I can knock him out of the sky," Razor shouted.

"No...save your munitions, Razor. If you do manage to take him out, he'll fall on either the flight line, control tower or take out the front of the building as it falls. I think we make enough of a mess already when we take these guys out, don't you?" T-Bone said, a thoughtful tone in his voice.

Razor blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah...you're right but this is the first time you've actually thought about it."

"Yeah, I know! Probably because my uncle has been hammering me about not paying attention to the big picture when I'm fighting. I'll tell you about it later, right now taking him out quickly is the best option. I'm turning the controls over to you, buddy. Keep it steady and I'll end this now," T-Bone warned. He opened the canopy and rain drenched them both in seconds but T-Bone couldn't cast this type of spell through metal. Though the jet was made of special polymers and steel, magic still had problems going through it they had learned during practice.

Squinting to see through the rain, T-Bone focused on the dark shadow that was moving constantly as it fired at the Enforcer Building with single minded purpose. Dark Kat seemed so assured they couldn't touch him, that he was ignoring the Turbokat completely.

Raising his paws, he shouted in a different language. Whatever, T-Bone was saying, it made goosebumps rise beneath Razor's fur. The tabby was building up something truly dangerous and scary.

On the final shouted word, the spell raced away from its sender like a lightning bolt through the sky but it didn't strike the Black Widow. Instead it ripped a hole in the sky. One could see a red light through it. The Black Widow was immediately sucked into that opening then snapped shut, leaving no trace of itself.

**Aboard the Black Widow...**

Dark Kat had been enjoying his triumph against the enforcers until one of his ninjas cried out in shock. He whipped his head toward the screen the kat had been manning and saw a strange portal open in the sky. His ship lurched sharply and he realized he was being drawn into that hole. His fingers raced over his console as he engaged all his engines in an effort to pull away but it was no use. He fired a barrage of missiles to try and close it to no avail. With a scream of fury and fear, he watched helplessly as his ship was swallowed up.

On the other side he was flung through a red sky and the ground was filled with horrible looking things, a brackish looking lake, and a city that looked like a mad kat had built it. He was lost in another dimension. Sitting in his seat, he let the ship fly on its own over a hideous landscape. Behind him his ninja's whimpered with fear and dread.

He said nothing for a long while. All his dreams of conquest had vanished like a dream. He had no idea how he'd ended up here but he knew he would never survive it, so he reached calmly forward to his console again and pressed a button. He then relaxed in his seat and stared out his window as a soft voice counted down. Just before his world blew up, a huge ugly looking flying thing came at the ship. He smiled one last time. The thing would be deprived of its meal and its life all at once. The Black Widow blew up making a spectacular splash against the garish sky.

**Back on Aristal...**

Feral stared in shock. The Black Widow was gone...it had been sucked into some kind of portal and now it was gone!

"Crud! T-Bone what did you do? Where is Dark Kat's ship?" Razor asked in awe.

"I...couldn't...destroy it...too much...metal..." T-Bone panted, closing the canopy. He sat limply, his body too exhausted to move. "So sent it to...another dimension."

"Seriously? Wow! That is huge!" Was all Razor was able to say. Since it seemed obviously his partner was too exhausted to fly, he flew the jet toward a small, intact section of the flight line and put it down.

The rain was lighter now so they didn't get any wetter when Razor opened the canopy and leaped down to speak with Feral.

Feral had seen them come in for a landing so went back downstairs to meet them. Walking up to the jet, he stopped before Razor and looked upward at T-Bone still in the jet.

"What the heck did he do because I know he was responsible," he asked.

"You're right. He told me he couldn't destroy the ship because it had too much metal so he did the next best thing...open a portal to another dimension and sent Dark Kat through it. Cool, huh?" Razor said, still amazed by the feat.

Feral gaped at him then looked back up at T-Bone with respect and awe. "I'd have to agree. So no more Dark Kat," he said, still trying to reconcile the fact in his mind.

"Yeah, another omega bites the dust. However, I'm sorry we weren't in time to save your flight line and gun, Feral," Razor said.

The Commander made a wave off gesture. "Doesn't matter. It's minor compared to just how much more harm Dark Kat could have done."

"You're right and surprisingly, T-Bone was the one to tell me not to fire on Dark Kat and warned, if I had succeeded in knocking him out, the ship would have fallen on your control tower or sheer off the front of your building. He'd been told he needed to pay more attention to the consequences of his actions when fighting than just blindly go after the bad guys without thought," Razor said, still amazed by his partner's more cautious behavior."

"He actually thought about the damage you guys could have done? But you've never took that into account which is why I was always upset with you." Feral blurted in shock.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I guess we just get wrapped up in getting the bad guy that we forget what we and the enemy could do to those below us which, I guess, is what T-Bone's uncle meant when he told him that. I feel rather ashamed we didn't think of it ourselves," Razor said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Well, will wonders never cease. Perhaps now you two won't be so fast on the draw from now on," Feral muttered, shaking his head. "However, I really hope he doesn't use much more magic from now on as it makes my fur stand on end."

"Yeah, it does me too and I was even closer to it than you," Razor agreed. "Well, we should go home so he can get some rest. Take care, Commander."

Feral nodded then walked away while Razor leaped into the cockpit again then closed the canopy. He took the jet up then away toward home.

While the SWAT Kats made their way home, Feral sighed at the mess that had to dealt with. He looked skyward and could see the rain was finally abating, the night sky was beginning to be seen through the clouds.

As he got the clean up crews started, repair crews notified, and the wounded sent off to the medical center for treatment, he ruminated on the fact now the two worst omegas were no more. He truly wished it meant peace for them at last but the threat from T-Bone's home dimension still hung over them. This was a war they had no real part in but couldn't divorce themselves from it even if the wanted to. All he could hope for was being able to keep the hostile dark Fae from escaping Megakat Park and pray that T-Bone save the day.

He snorted at that last thought...what a thing to be thankful for!


	15. Chapter 15

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 15: A Reluctant Feral Learns Magic

With two of the major omegas dealt with, Chance was able to focus more on his lessons while Jake continued to develop and build weapons he thought might be useful in the upcoming war on Alaria.

By the time four months had passed, Chance was ready to fight and felt a strong sense of urgency to be gone. He was extremely worried about what kind of condition Alaria was in because the four months would have translated into a couple of years in his home dimension.

There had been a couple of attempts on opening the portal from Alaria during that time, but Chance was now trained enough to sense it happening and easily thwarted the effort, keeping it closed.

Feral, meanwhile, was building up his supply of iron that could be shot from cannons, bazookas, projectile weapons, and even sling shots that fired simple balloons filled with iron fillings...those turned out to be the best and least expensive of his weapons to make. It might have seemed ridiculous, but Feral had learned nothing should be dismissed if it could truly delivery a blow again this powerful enemy with fewer casualties.

So, if a simple balloon fired with a sling shot would more easily send deadly iron fillings at their enemies then he was all for it. He even planned on placing officers in trees above the portal entry so they could fire at anyone coming through without being immediately spotted. It had been sheer brilliance on the part of a young officer and Feral gave him an commendation for thinking outside of the box.

With the aid of Callie, he'd also gotten every big beacon light he could buy or borrow, to circle the section of park where the portal appeared and mounted smaller but just as powerful ones on his choppers and even mini magnesium ones for enforcers to carry on their person. On a side note, the amped up flashlights had an unexpected extra use as one officer found out when he used it to blind a perp with a gun, ending the dangerous situation swiftly and safely. Feral was impressed and had the special flashlight added as a regular part of his enforcers gear and training.

While he made his preparations, a niggling worry haunted him. Since the SWAT Kats were no longer very busy saving the city, Feral didn't see them at all so was forced to use the communicator they gave him to ask a vital question.

"Razor!" Jake responded while at work at his desk.

"I need to speak with T-Bone for a moment and, yeah, it's important," he said, adding the last so he wouldn't be put off. He knew how busy the tabby was but this needed answering and T-Bone was the only expert at paw.

"Okay, just a sec, Commander," Jake said reluctantly.

He hurried down to the training room and called out to Chance that he had an urgent call. He heard Chance call a halt then moments later step from the room in his true form. Jake gaped for a moment then shook himself. "Uh, it's Feral and he says it urgent."

Chance nodded and took the comm from Jake. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I need to know of the possibility of other portals opening," Feral said getting to the point, quickly.

"Portals take a lot of energy to open then hold it that way, Feral so, no, the one that opened in the park would be the only one appearing here. I suspect this might even be the same one used by my people all those centuries ago as well," Chance said, musingly. "Anyway, what you're doing is fine so stop worrying about any others."

Feral sighed in relief. "That's good to know. Oh, and by the way, Professor Hackle has supplied me with over two hundred robots, more than I asked for, and they are already stationed around the park, which allows my enforcers to be doing their normal duties until they are needed," he said in satisfaction.

"That's good news and I have more for you...I have learned enough to be able to detect if anyone is attempting to open the portal and stop it so you needn't worry about being on alert until I depart. At that time, I won't be able to spare the energy to protect it," Chance warned.

The Commander sighed at that, both in relief and concern, although, he had guessed this would be happening and had planned for it, luckily. "We'll be ready," he assured the tabby then cut the connection.

And by four months time, he was ready. With his officers, he'd developed many different simple but hopefully, devastating strategies to defeat their enemies. He felt confident they were ready for whatever came their way...or so he thought...T-Bone was about to hand him another shock.

Now that Chance had been declared ready for battle, his uncle threw him one more task to be performed before they could leave for Alaria.

"What?" The tabby blurted in dismay, not sure he'd heard right when his uncle told him what he needed him to do.

Eyeing the prince intently, Conall repeated, "you must train Commander Feral on how to use his magic because despite his army being ready to prevent what might come through the portal, some still might escape his cordon. His being able to use magic can prevent disaster from befalling them. Also, there's that Pastmaster creature, you were worried about. Remember, you will be gone some months in their time, years possibly in ours, so your partner and the Commander must be able to handle most things without you. Teaching Feral to use his magic will be another line of defense for them. Of course, I will have to evaluate him first to determine just how powerful he may or may not be."

"I should have thought of that!" Chance felt disgusted with himself. "You're right about the Pastmaster too. Once our influence is gone, he just might want to check things out to find out why he couldn't come before and he's hard enough for Jake and I to handle...I can't begin to see how Feral will be able to deal with it when only half the SWAT Kats are here...not that Jake couldn't handle it...but... I'm actually, really worried about Jake too."

"Well, having Feral able to use magic should allow your partner some breathing room," his uncle said understandingly.

"Only if Feral can access his magic. Wait! You told me our magic isn't compatible with theirs so how could Feral's magic stop any of our enemies if that's true?"

"Yes, our powers aren't compatible with this world, however, that doesn't mean they are helpless against us. It simply means we make them uncomfortable using our magic around them. If we are attacked by one of their magic users, and in the past it did happen, our abilities are nearly evenly matched. Which meant, only the skills and power of the user would decide the outcome. Needless to say, we kept conflicts to a minimum since things did tend to get rather messy," his uncle explained.

"Well, Crud! So Feral could fight me despite how uncomfortable my magic makes him feel!" Chance blurted in dismay.

Conall chuckled and shook his head. "The Commander is no match for you, my prince...no one but perhaps the Dark King is in your league now. However, it was that extreme discomfort katkind felt around us that made them so prickly and so willing to fight us in the first place. That certainly isn't the case now since so few use magic in this century. Feral and perhaps this Ms. Briggs you mentioned, will be all this time period will need to protect themselves from any future magical problems," his uncle suggested. "Anyway, as I said a moment ago, I need to evaluate the Commander's magical core and Ms. Brigg's if she is interested and we need to do this immediately."

"What? No way would I bring him here nor her..." Chance started to object.

"Of course not, ease yourself, my prince...you are not thinking again," his uncle chided him.

Chance blinked in confusion then blushed as he realized what his uncle meant. The medallion being portable, meant the lessons could be held anywhere including Feral's place of work. This was something he still needed working on...thinking first before speaking.

"Uhm...sorry...you're right. We could set up sessions in his building for the training," he murmured, contritely.

Conall nodded. He hoped his nephew would learn to curb his tongue soon or it would certainly get him into serious trouble. "Then, all that's left is to speak with him and we should do that soon. You are correct in feeling time is getting away from us and that we must be going soon but this must be done first. I hope he is a fast learner. And what about Ms. Briggs?"

"So do I," Chance said grimly. "And I don't know. I'll have to contact her to ask. I'll do that on the way, so let's be off. See you again shortly, Uncle." He let go his concentration and his uncle faded away.

Razor had been surprised by what T-Bone had told him but he was forced to agree that Feral should do this but wasn't so certain about Callie.

"It isn't that she is brave enough to do it, it's how much work she already has on her plate. Is it fair to add this to it?"

"It isn't my call though I certainly agree with you," T-Bone said, heavily as he called Callie on her comm. She was shocked by the request.

"I'm magical?"

"According to the Pastmaster, you're the descendant of Queen Callista so the odds are high that you do have a magical core, Ms. Briggs," T-Bone said quietly.

"Uh...well...I'm not so sure I want to be able to do magic but if Feral were knocked out there should be a backup...so whether I like it or not, perhaps I better do this. When do you intend to train Feral?" She asked, her voice tinged with resignation.

T-Bone winced at that tone but knew this was her decision. "Right now, actually. I know it's short notice but I need to be gone and I have to get this done first."

"Wow! That's certainly short notice, I...wait you're already here? Darn, just give me ten minutes please," she said flustered as she saw the Turbokat approaching city hall.

"Sure, we'll be on the roof waiting," T-Bone told her then cut the connection.

Ten minutes later, after she'd warned the Mayor who was shocked and unhappy, then put away any sensitive documents on her desk, she grabbed her purse and made for the clock tower stairs.

Razor had jumped down and was waiting to help her aboard. Less than ten minutes later they were requesting landing from the enforcer tower.

Only minutes later, they stood in Feral's office and T-Bone had just explained what was needed and got the predictable response.

"NO! Not a chance!" Feral shouted, both in anger and fear.

"Feral, there really isn't a choice. I have no time to convince you. Ms. Briggs has agreed to be trained as well so let's do this because this city needs to have a magical defense besides the tech one and I need to be gone," T-Bone commanded, rather forcefully.

Feral stared at the tabby in consternation. Over the period of four months, the callow young hothead had become a leader who commanded respect and obedience, something his own officers felt about himself. It felt strange responding that same way to T-Bone though.

"I really don't like it..." he muttered, uncomfortably.

T-Bone sighed and gave Feral a light slap on the back. "In your shoes, I'd feel exactly the same but look at me...I've had my face shoved in it and I can't walk away...can you do any less?" He chided gently.

Feral sucked in a breath in outrage but let it go in the next moment as he realized what T-Bone was doing. If he didn't do this because of fear, he would be shamed and he couldn't allow that.

"Fine...let's to this," he grimaced, unhappily.

"For the record, Ulysses...I don't like it much either," Callie agreed with him, an unhappy but resigned look on her face.

"We need a safe place to do this. I would recommend one of your smaller gun range rooms as it would have a heavy cement barrier to keep the magical energy from escaping and causing harm," T-Bone suggested.

Feral just nodded and lead the way. Razor split off from them to return to the Turbokat. T-Bone would recall him when they were ready to leave. The rest of the group followed Feral to the elevator and took it down to the armory in the basement. He used his card to get into the gunnery range, walked up to the officer in charge to ask for the space and to warn everyone away from it while in use.

He grimly stalked back to them then lead them down a cement corridor. The sounds of the range being used could be heard, though heavily muffled as they went past different closed doors. At the end, he opened a heavy door, flicked on the lights then gestured for them to enter.

Once they were inside, he shut the door. It closed with a solid thud. He turned and waited. T-Bone walked to the center of the space and closed his paw around the medallion, concentrating after spilling a little blood on it. Seconds later the room was transformed and his uncle appeared.

Gasps greeted the appearance of the winged Fae who eyed the two strangers intently.


	16. Chapter 16

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 16: The Lessons Begin

Feral and Callie stared in awe at the ethereally beautiful male before them. T-Bone rolled his eyes a little behind his mask as he made the introductions. He couldn't really blame them, his kind did look rather stunning but he was far too used to it now to be amazed or awed any longer.

"Uncle, my I introduce Commander Ulysses Feral and Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs. Guys, this is a simulacrum of my Uncle Conall."

Feral blinked in confusion, "he's a what?" He turned his head to ask T-Bone.

"I'm a spell form of the real Conall, good sir," Conall explained, politely, inclining his head in a small bow.

"Uh...okay...a pleasure, I guess..." Feral said, growing uncomfortable in the Fae's presence, shifting his shoulders because they were feeling tight and breathing a little faster than normal.

"Be at ease, Sir Feral. Try to relax yourself and breathe slower. It is my presence as well as my nephews that is causing you to be tense and uneasy," Conall said smoothly, aware of the Commander's rising tension.

T-Bone blinked in surprise as he looked at Feral more closely. He could see nothing unusual about his behavior but his uncle had clearly picked up on the tom's rising tension. He'd have to ask Conall how he did that when they were alone again.

"Oh, so that's why I feel so uneasy all of a sudden," Callie spoke for the first time, rubbing her paws up and down her arms and looking uncomfortable.

"Yes, milady. I do apologize for that. Our magic is not compatible with yours so it causes unintended discomfort. We are sorry that we can't do anything about that and ask that you try your best to ignore your fight or flight instinct. It will grow stronger the longer we interact and you must recognize it for what it is or become unreasonably bad tempered or frightened enough to want to escape," Conall warned them calmly.

"Oh joy!" Feral muttered, unhappily.

Conall ignored the comment and turned to his nephew. "Please drop your glamour, my prince then we will begin."

T-Bone nodded, closed his eyes a moment and in seconds a stunningly golden winged warrior stood there. Callie could only gape in amazement, this being the first time she had seen his true form. Feral frankly stared. The show was still stunning enough this second time to hold his attention. Kats with wings and huge tri-colored eyes were just too weird for him to ignore easily.

"Oh my! You are soo..." she breathed, unable to finish what she was trying to say.

T-Bone just gave her a smirk and a shrug. "Yeah, ain't I just."

That small cocky grin and arrogant statement, made Callie snap out of her trance and give him a pained look. "Think a lot of yourself, eh, handsome?" She asked, snorting.

"No, but it did help snap you out of that ridiculous gobsmacked moment," he said cheekily.

Her face blushed hotly. "Well, yeah...uh...thanks for that. You both are rather overwhelmingly stunning in appearance."

"Yeah, I know. Glad I haven't paraded my true self in public. I'm afraid I'll either freak people out or end up having tons of smitten she-kats after my tail. Neither option is something I want to experience anytime soon," T-Bone chuckled ruefully.

"If I may have your attention please, time is of the essence here," his uncle interrupted, mildly.

It was T-Bone's turn to blush a little as he said contritely, "sorry, Uncle, you're right."

Over the next four hours, the pair of Fae put Feral and Briggs through a grueling training session that left them sweating, trembling and with some serious headaches. By the time Conall called a halt to the session, Feral was very close to wanting to beat the crap out of him. He was rigid with tension and the need to attack sang through his blood.

Sensing this, Conall manifested a bucket of very cold water over Feral's head and dumped it. The huge tom yowled in shock.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Feral roared, absolutely furious, as he tried to shake the water out of his face.

"To cool your rising ire, my dear Commander. You were very close to losing control," Conall said coolly.

Feral flushed with embarrassment, not responding verbally as what Conall had said was very true, he had felt unreasoning hatred and wanted to attack the Fae, only the male's quick action prevented him from shaming himself. Callie, meanwhile, was wanting to escape the room as fast as her feet could take her and she hated that feeling.

"Please do not distress yourself, milady. It is not your fault for your body's response. We still need more training time but you have reached your limit of tolerating our presence any longer. Expect to be extremely tired. Do not ignore your bodies need for rest and food. Do not return to work as you'll only collapse at an inappropriate moment. We will continue the lessons tomorrow afternoon. I wish to convey my approval to you both. You've managed to learn many spells in an obscenely short period of time when it normally takes several months. If you keep up this level of dedication, by the end of tomorrow's lessons you should be ready to deal with whatever magical danger comes your way," he told the tired pair, honestly then turned to T-Bone and ordered, "nephew, end the session now and I will see you in the morning as, you too, need rest after such a session. Good night all."

T-Bone ended the spell and engaged his glamor once more. Feral was scowling and unhappy at his wet condition. The tabby raised a paw and made a casual gesture and in seconds, Feral was dry.

The Commander gaped at him in surprise. "Uh, thanks SWAT Kat," he finally managed to say.

"No problem. But listen...my uncle wasn't kidding...you both will be feeling much worse really soon so I urge you to go straight home, eat quickly then crash," he warned them. "I'll summon Razor and we'll get you back to city hall quickly, Ms. Briggs."

"Sure, thanks, T-Bone. While we wait, I'm dying for a cold glass of water," Callie said wanly, her body already beginning to feel like lead.

Feral nodded and turned to open the door, gesturing them out then closing it behind him. He led the way back to the elevators. Minutes later they were back in Feral's office and Sgt Fallon was bringing them bottles of water while T-Bone summoned his partner for a pickup.

"Ohhh, water never tasted this sweet," Callie sighed, relieved as she downed nearly half her bottle in one go.

Feral couldn't agree more as he downed his water completely. His body was exhausted and all he wanted to do was lie down, preferably soon. T-Bone hadn't been kidding.

A roar outside the windows told them of the arrival of the Turbokat. Their eyes went immediately toward the wall of glass and just saw the sleek jet come in over the flight line and go to VTOL as he glided the jet across then finally set down.

"Well there's our ride. See you tomorrow, Commander," T-Bone said, as he helped Callie to her feet from the couch she'd collapsed on.

It was really hard to walk as she'd stiffened up a lot during their wait. Grimacing, she doggedly pushed herself to walk on her own two feet and follow T-Bone. At the jet, the tabby wrapped an arm around her waist and jumped the two of them up onto the wing. Razor smiled at her as he took hold of her and heaved her over into the cockpit and into the seat next to him.

T-Bone jumped into his own seat and strapped in. Moments later they were airborne again. Only ten minutes later they were setting down on the city hall's chopper pad. Razor took her to the ground in one smooth leap, said goodbye then hopped back aboard.

"Remember, Ms. Briggs...get home quickly," T-Bone said by way of farewell.

She nodded, waved goodbye and turned to enter the clock tower. Once she was safely behind the door, only then did T-Bone raise the jet then wing their way home again.

"How did it go, buddy?" Razor asked as they flew over the city.

"They both did better than hoped and learned a lot of spells in a short amount of time but they, like me, are going to be sleeping the sleep of the dead. Order something quick for me, Razor because I wont be on my feet long," T-Bone said, exhaustion beginning to seep into his voice.

"Gotcha, but if you want it, there is some left over pizza in the fridge. I'll handle things at the garage. We've been lucky, its been a quiet day and I've already finished the four cars we received and sent them on their way. I'll probably work on some of my projects before calling it a night," Razor said, agreeably.

T-Bone could only grunt in response as he expertly flew the jet down its hidden hangar runway and onto its turntable. Shutting down the engines, he relaxed as it rose to the main hangar floor above.

When the jet stopped moving, he shot the canopy back and leaped down. Nearly dragging his tail on the ground, he headed for the lockers and stripped mechanically. He could use magic to change but he was far too tired to expend the energy.

Once changed, he went upstairs and grabbed the pizza Jake had mentioned and a can of milk. He ate standing up, not daring to sit down when he was this tired.

He stared at the far wall as he ate without tasting his food. Jake came in behind him and grabbed a milk then went to order more pizza for his dinner. He eyed his tired partner, gave him a commiserating pat on the back before leaving him alone to go in the living room to wait for his pizza.

If Feral and Callie were learning as quick as Chance said then it meant he would be leaving for Alaria within another day or so. Jake needed to be ready to leave with his partner. He was relieved to be finished with his major upgrades to the jet and just needed to do some last tweaking of his new weapons on their glovatrixes.

Moments later, his partner came out of the kitchen and headed for the bedrooms. Shaking his head, Jake sighed and surfed the channels looking for something interesting to watch.


	17. Chapter 17

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 17: Inadvertent Magic

Sleeping shouldn't have been hard as tired as he was but it was becoming impossible to find for Feral. It had taken all his will power to push his body to keep moving after the grueling session with the Fae.

After giving instructions to his assistant for managing the office the rest of the day, he struggled to walk the distance to the elevator and from the elevator through the lobby down the steps to his hummer. It was even harder to stay alert during the drive home but he managed, barely. At his apartment, he parked, nearly crawled out of the car, locked it then walked slowly to the elevator taking it to the top floor. Another short walk to his apartment and finally inside.

With the door locked, he pulled his coat and weapon off and let them drop to the floor. His tie, shirt, and t-shirt followed. Moving like he was encased in molasses, he went to the couch, sat, and tugged his boots off, then pants. Now stripped, he almost couldn't' stand up again but forced himself to get up and move. His feet slid across the carpet burning his feet a bit but he was too tired to pick them up to walk properly.

In the kitchen he stood blankly, having difficulty concentrating on what to eat. Finally, he bestirred himself enough to get some milk and left overs from the fridge. He ate them cold and while standing up. Setting the can and empty dishes on the counter, he made his slow way to bed where he slid under the covers then sighed as he realized he'd left the kitchen light on but wasn't willing or able to crawl out and deal with it.

For the next hour he attempted to fall asleep but it was impossible, he was simply too tired. He'd had this problem before and it always left him barely functioning the next day.

Perhaps some warm milk might help then groaned at he realized it would mean getting up and his body absolutely screamed, 'no way'. Now what do I do? His mind, the part that just wouldn't shut down, began to think of ways to get what he wanted, which was rather pathetic but it clearly showed what kind of shape he was in.

Suddenly his whirling thoughts were arrested by the fragrant scent of warm milk. Huh? He cracked his eyes opened and there floating before his eyes was a steaming mug. His brain was so fuzzed, it took him a minute to understand what he was seeing. Then as if in a dream, he slowly raised his heavy arms to grasp the mug. Once he firmly had his paws around it, the mug settled, its full weight being felt by his fingers.

He stared at it in amazement then sipped the hot liquid. 'Ahhh...just right...but how...' his mind struggled for the answer then a light went off, 'oh, I did it. All that magical learning has allowed me to do things by just wishing or thinking it. Wow! That's just amazing.' Then he paused and frowned. 'Ugh, and not so good either. I have to be very careful with my thoughts from now on or I could really turn Steele into a pretzel for real the next time he pisses me off. Hmm, actually that isn't a bad idea.'

Only a little disturbed where his thoughts were going, Feral finished his warm milk, set the empty mug on his night stand then settled into attempting sleep again. This time, however, he was in a better mood. Happy thoughts chased him into slumber as he realized how useful his new powers were going to be.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Callie's body felt like lead and she found herself unable to lift her arms up enough to undress. It had been a terrible trial just getting home but now that she was here, she couldn't find the strength to do anything more.

As she stood there in the center of her living room, swaying on her feet, a wishful thought of someone big and hunky stripping her clothes off, drawing her a hot bath and dressing her for bed followed by a hot meal flitted longingly through her tired brain.

"Yea, right and pigs will fly," she mumbled aloud. Suddenly gentle paws were pulling on her clothes. She yelped in shock but was so tired she could only blink stupidly at the incredible looking male dressed in some kind of Arabian Nights sort of clothing, who was slowly disrobing her.

"Wha...who the hell are you?" she managed to blurt out.

"I am your slave, mistress. You wished assistance to ready yourself for sleep. I am here to do that for you," he said in a pleasant tenor voice. Then continued to pull her clothes off her. All she could do was gape at him and let him do what he wanted as she just didn't have any more strength in her body to do more than stare.

In minutes, the handsome slave had all her clothes off and was carrying her to the bathroom where a hot bath was already waiting. He gently lowered her into the tub. She groaned at how wonderful the hot water felt as all the soreness was pulled away...it was heaven.

Her mind was mostly off line by now so never noticed when he soaped her whole body, washed her hair, then rinsed her off before lifting her out and carrying her over to a vanity bench to sit so he could towel off most of the water then held her under the dryer to finish the job.

Dry and limp as a noodle, she felt him carry her again and lay her on her already opened bed. He settled her into a seated position with many plump pillows to support her. She didn't want to think where the extra pillows had come from. She was still trying to grasp if this was a dream or real. No way would she allow some unknown male to see her naked and do all this to her.

But here she was accepting all this wonderful pampering. She stared at him as he looked down at her in satisfaction then flicked his fingers and a tray with a bowl of hot soup, a salad, and something steaming from a mug appeared across her lap.

"Would you wish to be hand fed, mistress or feed yourself?" the handsome male asked, politely.

She blinked up at him for a long confused moment trying to process what he'd said. "Uh...I think I can manage on my own," she finally managed to say.

"As you wish." He stood beside the bed with his arms crossed over his impressive chest and waited like a statue.

Staring at him in bemusement, she began to eat the food. It was delicious and filled her empty belly and the hot drink turned out to be some kind of tea that relaxed her further. She was well past wanting to shut her eyes and sleep but was still disturbed by her 'slave'.

"Um, thank you. That was wonderful. I think I can sleep now," she said, uneasily.

He nodded and smiled, picked up the tray and said, "you are welcome mistress, sleep well." Then he and the tray disappeared and the light in the room turned out abruptly except for a small lamp next to her. She sat there in shock. After a long moment and a quick look around her room, she shook her head, took off her glasses and put them in their case, then reached out and turned out her lamp.

She slipped under her covers and as her eyes began to close, it was then she realized what had happened. 'Well how do you like that? I didn't know my magic could do something like making a slave to do my bidding. How incredible!' Still stunned by the whole thing, she drifted to sleep unable to fight it any longer.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Late the next morning, two still tired and newly skilled at magic individuals woke to greet the day.

Feral blinked blearily at his alarm clock a moment before it registered that it hadn't gone off and it was well after ten in the morning. He lunged up in shock.

"Kat's Alive! I never oversleep. Crud, I must have really been wracked out," he grumbled, throwing his bedding off and stalking to the bathroom.

In a high rise condo, sleepy green eyes blinked aware while a paw fumbled around for her glasses. Putting them on she stared blankly at her clock. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wha...I must have really been tired to sleep this long and why hasn't the Mayor called me by now?" She wondered, dismayed and annoyed.

Shoving the covers off herself, she yawned then began to get up, freezing seconds later when a sudden idea came to her. I wonder...she thought a moment then closed her eyes again and ordered her thoughts into a specific command.

Opening her eyes, she looked down at herself. Her mouth opened in an 'O' of pleased amazement. "Yes!" She was now clean, brushed, and dressed for work. All she had to do was take a quick potty break and eat some breakfast. Getting up, she made her way to the bathroom.

"I think I could get used to this," she said aloud, smiling.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

When Feral walked into his headquarters he got odd looks. He ignored them, his mind more on trying to catch up his work before he went to another training session. When he entered his office, he was annoyed to find Steele sitting there going through the files.

Steele shot to his feet and eyed his commander worriedly. "Sir! Are you alright? When you didn't come in yesterday or called, I was..."

"What are you talking about?" Feral interrupted, confused.

"Sir, you've been gone since the afternoon of your lessons on Tuesday, it's now Thursday."

"Kat's Alive! I slept the clock around." Feral was stunned. Hurrying to the desk, Steele moving quickly off or be run over by his boss, the big tom grabbed his radio and called the comm center.

"Open a general Enforcer frequency for me," he barked at the dispatcher. Moments later he was given the go ahead to speak. "T-Bone...contact me immediately on my cell!"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Callie strode through the lobby and caught an elevator to the top floor. Feeling relaxed and rested, her mind was already on what she needed to get done before the afternoon's training session as she walked into her offices.

"Ms. Briggs!" her secretary exclaimed. "We were worried about you. When you didn't show yesterday for work, the Mayor and I weren't certain if you were coming back or were still in training and no one could answer our questions at Enforcer Headquarters."

"Didn't show for work?" Callie gaped at her in confusion.

"Yes ma'am. It's Thursday."

"Oh no! I lost an entire day!" Callie was stunned. Shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "Sorry, Alice. I didn't realize the training would drain me that badly. I was sleeping all this time. Anything happen while I was gone?"

Her secretary sighed in relief and smiled, shaking her head. "No, Ms. Briggs. Fortunately, it was very peaceful yesterday and, so far, today."

"Well that's good to know. Get me some coffee, please, and I'll dig into my work. Oh, and is the Mayor in?"

"No ma'am. He's at the golf course," she gave a pained smile, knowing how much the deputy mayor hated being left with all the work. Nobody liked the fact his honor would always take off, especially the mayor's own secretary.

Callie sighed. Yea, that's typical. She went to her office and closed the door. Pawing through her purse, she searched for the SK comm. Finding it, she clicked the button and called, "T-Bone, you there?"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Wednesday morning...

A grumpy but not tired, Chance got up the next morning around eight.

"Well, nice to see you no longer look like the dead after a grueling training session," his partner chirped, eating cereal at their breakfast table.

The big tabby snorted. "Yea, I've finally got enough stamina to handle it now. The other two are still going to feel the effects today, I'm sure." He sat down at the table, made a light gesture and a breakfast of milk, eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes and steak appeared...piping hot and ready to eat.

Jake nearly spat out his mouthful of cereal. "I wish you wouldn't do that, it's so unsettling."

"I'm supposed to use magic at all opportunities including simple things like making my breakfast," Chance reminded him, amused by his friend's reaction.

Jake could only shake his head. "So your plans for today is to continue their training then leave by tomorrow?" he asked carefully.

"That's the idea. I really have to be going. I wish I knew the true situation over there rather than just be dropped into it," the tabby sighed, picking up a piece of bacon and stuffing it in his mouth, his expression worried.

"Yea, I know that truly sucks but I also know you'll do your best to fix things if you can," Jake said sincerely.

"Thanks."

They ate their breakfast in silence after that and when he was done, Chance just made everything disappear then headed for the hangar. His first call was on the comm to Callie but he got no response. Frowning he made a call to Feral's personal cell but again got no answer. Becoming concerned, he called the Mayor's office and was told Ms. Briggs had not come in. Making the same call to Feral's assistant, he got the same answer.

Shaking his head, he looked over at the clock. It was going on nine. Feral would have been at work by seven and Ms. Briggs, arriving right now. Concerned, he sent himself to their homes, easily locating them by their by their magical signatures.

He popped into Feral's apartment first. It was quiet. He made for the bedroom and found the big tom sprawled across his bed, dead asleep. Going over to the bed, Chance reached down and shook the tom hard but Feral didn't respond. No way would he fail to react to someone in his apartment much less shaking him so Feral was obviously far too out of it still.

Dismayed, Chance left the tom to sleep. Appearing in Callie's condo next, he feared he would find the same state of affairs and wasn't surprised to see he was right. The beautiful she-kat was buried in her bedding fast asleep. Snorting in annoyance now, he returned home startling his partner who had been looking for him.

"What the hell, Chance? Where were you?"

"Checking on my students. They are dead to the world. No way will they be able to wake up until tomorrow."

"Really? Wow you must have really pushed them beyond their limits then," Jake said, quietly.

Chance just hissed and ran frustrated fingers through his hair. "I'd better inform my uncle," he grumbled and stalked off toward the room he used for training.

Jake watched his irate partner stomp off. The delay was actually a good thing...for him. It meant he had a little more time to insure he'd loaded everything they would need in the jet for the other dimension including personal things for himself. He didn't want to rely on anyone there to provide him with basic necessities. Since Chance's people could conjure whatever they required, they might forget he couldn't and he might find himself starving a time or two so it might be a good idea to stock some freeze dried stuff. He went off to do that while his friend was occupied.

Chance closed the heavy door to the concrete chamber behind him and summoned his uncle.

"Good morrow, my prince," Prince Conall said promptly.

"It's not a good one for me, Uncle. Our two students are still sound asleep and nothing short of a bomb will wake them so we're delayed for another day at least," Chance huffed.

"I see. Well, it can't be helped, nephew. They did work hard and gave all they had. It was really too much to expect their bodies to manage the severe drain that quickly. Since we can't do the training, I think it a good idea to go over the possible strategies the Queen might be using, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Dark King, and anything else I can think of that will be of benefit to you. Then we'll do some more sword work." Conall decided.

Chance sighed mentally and prepared to listen and learn.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Thursday morning...

Chance was in the garage working on a car to fill the time in when the Enforcer Band Radio toned then a message from Feral sang out. Wiping his paws off, he went the phone and called Feral's cell.

"T-Bone here. You alert and ready to work again, Commander?" He asked before Feral could speak.

"I only learned I'd slept the clock around. Why didn't you wake me?" Feral asked, grumpily.

"Believe me, I tried. You and Ms. Briggs just couldn't wake up. Don't beat yourself up about it. It took me weeks to build the stamina to handle what you went through. I haven't head from her yet but I'm guessing since you're up she may be too. Let's plan on one o'clock for the training session, that will give you the morning to catch up on your work, eat a hardy lunch, then clock out the rest of the day," the tabby ordered him.

Feral rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, see you later." He hung up, what else could he say anyway. A second later, he groaned. 'Crud, this means I'll be sleeping through Friday. Guess I better plan on working the weekend.' He reached for his intercom and had his secretary call Steele and Sgt Fallon. He needed to brief them on his planned absence.

As Chance hung up the phone the alert phone rang. He rolled his eyes, 'well there she is,' he said to himself as he answered it. Jake had responded too but Chance just waved him off. His partner nodded and returned to the vehicle he had been working on.

"Hello Ms. Briggs. Feeling rested?"

"I'm so sorry T-Bone. I didn't even know I had lost a day until I came into work just now."

"I know. Just got off with Feral who was equally shocked at finding that out. Don't worry about it. I should've expected that to happen since it took me time to adjust to that kind of workout myself. I've already told Feral training will commence at one today. Please eat more than you normally would and plan on signing out for the day and most likely the next too. I'll see you both later, okay?"

"Alright, later then," Callie sighed then heard the connection close. She put the comm away in her purse just as her secretary entered with her coffee and more documents to add to her mounting workload. 'Guess I'm working this weekend.' Echoing Feral's resigned thought.


	18. Chapter 18

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 18: Through the Wringer Again

Callie sighed as she dropped the last pawful of work into her secretary's basket. She'd managed to get more done than she thought possible. It helped the Mayor hadn't bothered to return until just thirty minutes ago.

"Callie...could you give me a run down on the Forstair Project?" Mayor Manx asked, walking into her office with a report in his paw.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't. I'm required to finish my training along with Feral at one this afternoon and it's almost that time now. I also won't be here tomorrow since it appears this training is so debilitating that Feral and I both end up sleeping twenty-four hours. I will be in on the weekend, though, to catch up," Callie told him, as she walked to her desk and retrieved her purse from the bottom drawer.

Manx frowned and looked put upon. "How am I supposed to get things done with you gone? I just don't see why it was so important for you to be trained in magic. Feral, I understand, but you...that doesn't make sense." He huffed.

She barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes. "We've been over this Mayor. I'm Feral's back up. What if the Pastmaster sweeps in and Feral's busy with that other world's enemies, then what would we do?" She warned him. The fact the Pastmaster couldn't be there at the same time as T-Bone's enemies, she didn't bother to tell him.

"No...no...you're right," Manx said quickly, holding his paws up as if to ward off the very thought of that evil sorcerer dropping in. "I just forgot for a moment. However, having you gone right now is a serious inconvenience."

"I'm sorry but you should have been in this morning so we could have covered the things you needed dealt with. As it is, I've got to go and you'll just have to handle it yourself or call me here Saturday," she dared to say, disgusted he had wasted most of the day playing golf.

She hurried past the shocked Mayor and made for the nearby powder room. As she changed her clothes, she fumed. She was hardily tired of putting her own needs on hold to do the things Manx wanted when it was convenient for him but not anyone else. He was a very selfish, self absorbed, fool but unfortunately, he was the Mayor. Putting her business suit in a hangup bag she'd left in here for that purpose, she collected her things and went out to the elevator, taking it down to the lobby.

She garnered surprised looks from many that knew her as she hurried across the polished floor, her tennis shoes making no noise. They were used to hearing her high heeled shoes clacking a warning of her presence but now she was dressed down and, unless one was looking, her passage went largely unnoticed. Instead of her power suit of pink, she wore a dark green sweatsuit with her thick blond hair ponied behind her head. Reaching the multiple doors leading out, she pushed one of them open and headed down the wide staircase for her car parked at the curb. After hanging the clothes bag on a hook in the rear section of her car, she climbed into the driver's seat, tossing her purse on the passenger side. With her seatbelt on and engine started, she took off for Enforcer Headquarters and another torture session of learning magic.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Tossing another report into his out basket, Feral got to his feet but didn't get far when, with barely a knock on the door, Lt. Commander Steele came in to take over. His superior grimaced unhappily at the sight of his incompetent second but only said, "I've taken care of all the urgent matters. Insure Mary gets the reports in that basket today. Anything that requires my review and/or signature, leave for me as I plan on coming in on Saturday to catch up."

"You'll be home recovering, sir?" Steele asked.

"Yes. Working magic is physically draining. Keep on top of things as you won't be able to wake me," Feral grunted, really not happy about being out of it a whole day. He finished stepping down from his pedestal to walk toward the door and his coat rack. Instead of putting it on, he carried it over his arm then strode out the door hearing Steele's faint 'yes sir' behind him.

Steele sighed and went to check the basket and prepare to hold down the fort. Usually, he was thrilled to be in the command chair but not lately. All this magic stuff had made him afraid and uncomfortable. Give me an omega to magic any day, he thought sourly.

Feral walked briskly down the hall for the elevator. A car arrived moments later and he stepped in, pushing the button for the flight line. He glanced at his watch and noted the time. Briggs and T-Bone should arrive within moments. A brief thought crossed his mind that Callie wouldn't be looking forward to another grueling and uncomfortable session any more than he was. However, doing magic was kinda of interesting, he was forced to admit, and it could be a good weapon in the battle against whatever this city dished out from now on. The good news was at least it wouldn't be the major omegas any longer. Having Dark Kat and Dr. Viper unequivocally dead was something he rejoiced in every day since their demise.

The minor omegas like Turmoil, who was still incarcerated in her own country last he heard, and, though he was still on the loose, Hard Drive...wouldn't be as much of a threat as they used to be. However, there was still the Pastmaster...he grimaced in worried concern...would his and Briggs' abilities hold up against an experienced magic worker? He would just have to wait for the answer when or if the creep ever showed up again.

God, I hope so or we're truly screwed, he thought sourly. Then there was T-Bone's enemies ... they might not be as great a challenge if the iron weapons they'd cobbled together kept the dark Fae on their side of the portal. That would be the best scenario and the one he intended to make happen. If he could convince them it wasn't in their best interest trying to invade Aristal then the battle was half won.

Shaking his head, he shoved all that away as he reached the flight line and heard then saw the Turbokat arriving in the airspace above him. He watched as the pilot smoothly glided the jet on VTOL across the windy surface with ease, landing it but not shutting down the engines. The canopy shot back and the tabby leaped down and walked toward him. Almost immediately, the Turbokat lifted once more into the air, floated backward a short distance then ascended upward until it cleared the building before shooting off toward its hidden hangar, disappearing in seconds.

"Ready for another session?" T-Bone asked as he came abreast of Feral.

"No, but I don't really have a choice," Feral responded, a sour expression on his face as he turned about and led the SWAT Kat through the pilot ready area, many eyes watching them with curiosity and concern.

"Have you used it yet?" T-Bone asked, bluntly, as he stepped ahead of Feral into the elevator the other had signaled for.

Feral rolled his eyes as he pushed the button for the lobby. He knew what the SWAT Kat was referring to. "Yes, but I certainly didn't intend to."

T-Bone grinned. "Made an unconscious wish did you?" He asked rhetorically, no doubt in his voice.

The big tom snorted but before he could respond the door snapped open to reveal the lobby of his headquarters. He held a paw against the door to keep it from closing again and called to someone just entering through the main doors.

"Ms. Briggs!"

Callie heard him and hurried across the tiled floor, wending her way through the moving carpet of people going about their business. Reaching the open elevator, she stepped in and turned around. Feral released the door and pushed the button for the armory in the basement.

"Don't think I've ever seen you in anything but that pink suit of yours, Ms. Briggs. You look quite fetching in that outfit and practical," T-Bone commented, giving her an appreciative eye.

She blushed only a little. "I thought this might be more appropriate."

Feral thought she look good as well but refrained from commenting though he did wish he'd done the same thing, his uniform was going to be a mess when they were done.

As they descended, Feral recalled himself to T-Bone's question. "I didn't realize I could use magic that easily. All I had done was wish I had a glass of warm milk and the next thing I knew I smelled steaming milk near my nose. I opened my eyes to a mug hanging there. I was so stunned I nearly lost my concentration but remembered in time before having that hot liquid dump itself on my face."

T-Bone laughed. "At least your famous reflexes didn't desert you which is a good sign you've adapted to your new abilities very well," he complimented despite his amusement. Feral blinked at him in pleased surprise. The tabby then turned toward the she-kat who was eyeing Feral with something like commiseration. "So did something similar happen to you?"

She blushed. "Not exactly but it was a memorable night, which is all I'll say about it."

"Hmm, must have been really interesting," the tabby said archly, amused, wondering what she'd wished for that caused her face to flame so brightly.

But the elevator door snapping open prevented him from pressing her a little. As he stepped out ahead of them, his face fell into a more serious expression as he made for the room they'd used the last time. He opened the door and stepped in followed by the other two, Feral pausing to dump his coat and tie in the break room first before joining them and closing the door firmly shut.

"Shall we get started?" the tabby asked, moving to the center of the room and pulling out his medallion. The two nodded, separated a little so they had working space between them and waited. Within seconds two Fae stood there once more and the lessons began again.

After spending more than four hours teaching the pair more defensive and offensive spells then making them repeat them over and over until it was nearly automatic on their part, Conall called a halt. "Take an hour break, refresh yourselves then return. Commander, you and I will go over tactics for dealing with the Dark Fae while Prince Lorcan will teach Ms. Briggs some offensive moves to keep herself safe from your lesser enemies so you won't be distracted by your concern for her safety. After that, we'll teach you both some specialty spells that should help you discourage the Pastmaster from ever desiring to visit your time period again."

Groaning at the thought of even more intense training, the pair left the room barely able to put one foot before the other. Sweat dripped down Feral's forehead and his uniform clung to him like a wet blanket while his tail dragged the floor behind him. No strength in him to hold it up any longer.

Callie wasn't much better. Stray blond hairs that had come free of her pony tail, were plastered to her forehead and cheeks and her sweat suit felt like she'd taken a sauna in it, her glasses were fogging up much to her annoyance. She followed Feral's exhausted form, narrowly avoiding stepping on his tail as he turned into the break room for the armory. Three officers were already in there shooting the breeze and broke off to gape at the pair in shock. One of them snapped out of his astonishment to give the pair aid. Knowing they were most likely dehydrated, he went to the small fridge against the wall. Inside he spotted bottles of water and sandwiches with a note attached that said 'Don't Touch - For Commander Feral and Ms. Briggs' on white paper and signed by Sgt Fallon. He fetched them out and carried the food to the pair that had dropped gracelessly onto the old worn couch.

The Commander had his feet straight out and his head resting on the back of the couch, arms limp at his side, eyes closed. His shirt was so sweat laden that one could see the t-shirt he wore beneath it. The collar of his shirt was undone, his sleeves were rolled up and his tie was missing.

The deputy mayor was sitting up and groaning as she struggled to peel her soggy sweatshirt top off to reveal a tight, damp t-shirt that left nothing to the imagination. The officer gulped but averted his eyes quickly from the beautiful she-kat who paid him no attention as she took her glasses off and set them on the coffee table then, using her sweatshirt top as a pillow, she lay her head down on the cushion beside her, her butt pointed at the Commander and her tail draped along the big tom's leg with the tip resting across his black boot like a limp rag.

"Uh...sir...ma'am...here's some water and sandwiches for you," he said a bit nervously, setting the food on the table before them.

"Thank you," Feral slurred, not raising his head off the couch nor looking at the officer. The deputy mayor just mumbled something unintelligible.

Taking that as a dismissal, the officer and his companions beat a hasty retreat from the room leaving the brass some privacy.

"Wow! Did you see how wiped out they were? What the heck could they be doing to cause such exhaustion?" The one who had helped the pair asked his companions as they made for their duty section.

"Don't know! No one does... it's all hush hush stuff," his sandy hair, rail thin, friend said shrugging.

"Whatever it is, it's all tied up with that SWAT Kat somehow, at least that's what the scuttlebutt's been saying. Everyone agrees it has to do with that weird portal that appeared in the park," the oldest of the three, a black long furred tom said wisely. "Trouble's obviously coming and it isn't what's left of the omegas."

They shivered at the thought of something worse than the omegas coming as they returned to their duties.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Back in the break room, Feral made a huge effort to sit up and grab a bottle of water. He downed it in one gulp and went for the second one, using it to run over his sweating brow.

"God, I wish I could take a nice hot bath right now," Callie mumbled as she pushed herself back up and copied Feral's actions. She lay back against the couch and used her second bottle of water to soothe her eyes.

Feral drank half of his second bottle then set it on the table. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, face in his paws. "I ditto that," he said thickly. "It really doesn't help having to fight my desire to plant a fist in both their faces, though, the way my arms feel right now, I'd probably only manage to embarrass myself."

"At least you want to fight, all I want to do when I'm in there is flee. I really hate that feeling. Makes me feel like a coward."

"You're no coward, Ms. Briggs. It's just a physical reaction and nothing for you to be ashamed of," Feral said firmly, though he didn't look up at her, too tired to move.

"Intellectually, I know that Commander but my heart still feels like a traitor. Nothing I can do about it but keep working hard and ignoring those sensations," she sighed resignedly.

"That's a good idea," Feral grunted then raised his head and reached for his sandwich. He opened it with little enthusiasm. Glancing over at her he said, "Better eat...you'll need your strength."

Rolling her eyes at him she nonetheless sat up and listlessly opened her own sandwich and nibbled at it.

They ate their food slowly and let the silence stretch between them. They were so tired, they didn't try to understand how they felt about all this right now, later they might discuss it and what they would do when left in charge after T-Bone went through the portal.

Callie's mind was nearly too tired to think but the thought that T-Bone was just about to depart roused her to alertness. She feared what would happen the moment he left them and what would happen if he never returned. Razor, she knew, would be devastated and probably wouldn't continue on as a SWAT Kat. Though that would make her sad, it wasn't that dire a consequence as there were no more serious omegas to worry about and with her and Feral skilled at using magic, they should be quite prepared to handle the small fry that threatened the city.

However, it was the war on Alaria that had her worried right now. Fighting anyone coming through the portal was a daunting and frightening thing. Would she and Feral be able to hold back a whole army determined to cross over to their world? The very idea made her shiver with fear. They would just have to do their best as there was no one else left to stop the enemy if they didn't.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

In the room the two had left, T-Bone had remained with his uncle and conjured a meal and some milk for himself. The two discussed the progress of their students.

"They seemed to be nearly ready, Uncle," T-Bone said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"They are indeed, my prince. It pleases me to see such courage and fortitude in one as lovely as Ms. Briggs. Despite nearly dropping with exhaustion and fighting her real desire to flee the room, she has persevered. She has a formidable will," Conall said, admiringly.

T-Bone wasn't sure how he felt about the sound of interest for the deputy mayor in his uncle's voice. Though he'd not made any claims on the she-kat, he always thought of her as his.

"Yes, she's a brave one alright though she has a bad habit of getting into trouble all the time," he said a bit more sharply than he'd intended.

His uncle eyed him intently. "Do I detect an interest in the fair maid, my prince?"

"There's no room in my life for a relationship, Uncle," the tabby said by way of answer.

Conall snorted. "Nonsense. Your lives on this world are short so thinking it is better to deny oneself the company of a mate or lover is wrong headed thinking. There are no guarantees in life so one must seize that moment of happiness and enjoy it for however long it might last. To stay celibate and alone for some lofty ideal is foolish and serves no purpose. Besides, you insult the one you love by denying them the right to make their own decision about whether the risk is worth it to them or not," he admonished his nephew. He'd seen this hero complex too many times. All it brought was suffering and unhappiness for no good purpose.

T-Bone stared at his uncle in angry disbelief. "How can you say that? The danger I put myself in is my choice. It's not right to bring someone else into that life so it is threatened by my enemies."

"Who says? You? You're not a God to make that choice for someone else. No one is. If a person chooses to be with you and risk the danger living with you represents then that is their choice. You have no right to dishonor that person by denying what each of you feel for some ridiculous ideal. Better to accept their decision graciously and enjoy one another. That is what love is all about," Conall insisted.

T-Bone had no answer to his uncle's certainty and wasn't sure he should question it in the first place as the tom had lived centuries and should know what he was talking about. But it still felt wrong to him. It would take him a long time to accept such a thing. Sighing he shoved that thorny idea aside and returned to the previous subject.

"I'll have to think about that awhile, Uncle. Anyway, what do you think of Feral's progress? Is he ready to hold back an invasion from the portal?"

"Yes," his uncle said decisively. "He may have doubts but he hides them well and has determination and courage. You may not like him my prince, but he will defend his world with his life."

"Yea, I think so too. I never thought of him a coward, Uncle... a bit narrow minded and hidebound, but never someone who'd turn his back on his duty. So... they are both ready and that means I leave tomorrow morning. I want this to be over as soon as possible," T-Bone sighed, finishing his food then vanishing the leavings.

"As do I, my prince. The war has gone on for so very long and your people are hardily tired of it. I would not be surprised if the Dark King's own advisers are also tired of this mad course of action and choose to aid us," Conall said shrewdly.

T-Bone blinked in surprise, such a thought had never occurred to him. "You actually think they might?"

"Peace between the dark and light had existed for centuries. This sudden lust by Gareth, the Dark King, to be leader over all was unexpected and without warning. I rather imagine his own advisers and generals were taken aback by this desire to make war on the light. Yes, I believe they are already plotting to find a way to aid your cause, my prince, wanting to end this conflict as badly as we do."

"Wow, then this could be a really fast battle after all and with my more modern technology, I might be able to tip the scales in our favor," the tabby mused, thoughtfully.

Conall eyed his nephew a moment. "I begin to think it will be science rather than magic that will end this war, my prince."

T-Bone nodded. Their conversation ended as a very tired pair of unlikely magical warriors reentered the room, determined to finish their training. The tabby hid his smile of admiration as he saw how much effort it took Callie just to stand upright and how rigid Feral's posture was, pretending he wasn't as tired as his face and trembling limbs indicated he was.

They're ready to fall over but here they were, ready to finish their training, despite their bodies screaming with the need to curl into a ball and sleep. I really underestimated them both, he thought bemused, preparing to put them both through more hell.


	19. Chapter 19

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 19: Razor Prepares

While his partner was training Callie and Feral, Jake was frantically finishing his plans. Because they might be gone months, years, or never return at all, he'd made sure he'd left certain documents for Feral that told what had gone on right beneath the big tom's nose.

However, hoping they'd only be gone a few months, he'd made a large payment on their bill with the Enforcers with money he'd made selling some of his weapons and useful inventions under his call sign just a few weeks before.

As for the running of their garage, he had contacted a competitor they were friendly with, a week earlier and asked them if they would handle their customers, telling them he and Chance would be taking a temporary job out of town for a few months.

"_Hey, it would give us some extra profit, so hell yes, we'll do it," Sam said, grinning. He and his brother had run Affordable Auto Repair and Towing for some fifteen years._

"_Thanks, guys, we really appreciate this but don't count on keeping our customers when we get back," Jake said, giving a friendly warning._

"_Oh, we'll see about that. Depends on just how long you two are gone and whether they like us better than you," Jason, Sam's partner said, good-humoredly._

"_That goes without saying," Jake snorted. "Anyway, I have to get going, thanks again."_

_The two mechanics waved goodbye as Jake climbed into his truck and drove off their property._

_While driving home, Jake thought about the loss of income from their absence and hoped they could recoup with Chance's relatives, after all, they were royalty. Then he grimaced. Wonder if they used money at all? He shook his head. No sense worrying about that right now but I will keep my eye out for getting some cash if possible when there. Of course, there's always me selling more of my designs when we get back too, he mused thoughtfully. Sighing, he shelved their money woes to the back of his mind, there were more important things to deal with._

Now the final countdown was here at last and he was worried about forgetting something as he scurried around trying to get everything he needed done before Chance's return to the garage. He knew he was in for a heated argument when he told his friend he was going. There was a small possibility Chance might use magic to keep him from going along so Jake knew he had to be his most persuasive. The fact he believed the Turbokat and he, as gunner, could be the tipping point to ending the war quickly might not be enough to win Chance over.

Sighing, he pushed that fear aside and continued his preparations. He had spent the first couple of hours packing up all their personal items from their apartment and storing them in the hangar, then set about preparing to seal their apartment by cleaning it, washing laundry and stripping beds, emptying the trash and the fridge of perishables, and cupboards of food that would spoil or attract mice if left. When he was done with that, he set up a sophisticated security system that he would engage once they left to keep Burke and Murray from entering their home.

He took a brief break to eat something then started on hauling all their car tools, document files, and personal items from the garage, storing them in the hangar including the tow truck. He had already scavenged the yard for parts he'd need for repairing the Turbokat, loading them in a storage unit he'd built in the cargo hold for them. He also finished loading all the weapons and equipment he could think of they might need on the other side of the portal.

The last thing he loaded aboard the jet and placed in a locker he'd installed, were a personal kit for himself consisting of non-perishable food, clothing, some tech manuals, books, music, and personal care items. He did not want to be a burden to anyone least of all his partner for the things he needed since he could not conjure it up like Chance and everyone one else there could.

It was getting late but he felt good as he was nearly through, only two tasks remained. One was an order on Enforcer letterhead that he'd typed up with Feral's forged signature on it, telling Burke and Murray that he had assigned Chance and Jake to a special job and the two junk yard toms were to handle the salvage yard until the two returned which might be months. They weren't to occupy the apartment nor step into it for any reason except for safety issues, like a fire. It was very unlikely they would question the order or even ask Feral if the letter was real so Jake felt secure in the knowledge their place would be safe while they were gone.

The last task required a trip to the museum. Changing to his Razor persona, he raced away at top speed on his Cyclotron arriving at his destination only ten minutes later. Luck was with him as he caught Dr. Sinian just leaving her office for the day.

Eyeing him in surprise, she asked, "Razor, is something wrong?"

He shook his head and handed her a thick, sealed package addressed to Commander Feral. She took it and gave him a questioning look.

"What's this for?"

"As you've probably guessed, I intend to go with T-Bone through the portal. He needs me even if he thinks he doesn't. That package is to go to Feral only if we don't return after a year has passed," he told her.

"Oh, I see, good precaution. I will lock it up in my personal files. Do you think T-Bone will say no to you going with him if you're so adamant?" she asked, quietly.

"He'll try but I'm determined to make him see how important it is I go. With Feral and Ms. Briggs trained in magic, I feel confident enough in their abilities to leave the city's protection in their paws. But I'm not so sure T-Bone will return safely if I remain behind. I firmly believe my technology will play a big role in ending the war sooner. After all, his people aren't that familiar with science, having no need or apparent desire for it."

"Since they do cross over to our world from time to time, Razor, I'm sure they are familiar with science, " Abi corrected him, gently.

"Oh I'm sure they are but only enough to know about it but not how it works or care."

"Hmm, you could be right about that. But you can't know for certain what they know or don't know so please use all caution and don't give away all your capabilities too soon. What they don't know will give you the edge. I agree you shouldn't be left behind. You two have functioned as a team for several years and that is your greatest strength so I hope you win the argument for going with him, otherwise, I fear for his safety. I will miss you though."

"Thank you for the advice and you're right about being a team. That's one of the arguments I intend to use against him. Wish me luck. You'll know I've gone because if I've been left behind I'll come see you immediately."

"Good idea and good luck. Come back to us safely, Razor. Even without the omegas, there's still a need for you both here," she said warmly. "Oh, by the way, have you told the Commander about your plans to be gone too?"

Razor frowned. "Crud! I forgot he would need to know as he is planning to use me in his defense plans. Yeah, better notify him and thanks for remembering that for me. Thought I'd covered all the bases," he sighed, annoyed at himself.

"I'm certain you've been juggling a great deal while T-Bone was occupied, not surprising you might forget something. Glad I could help. Don't worry about contacting the Commander, I'll do that for you as soon as I know you're gone," she told him.

"Oh, thank you, that's a big help. Okay, I better get going before T-Bone returns from Enforcer Headquarters. Thanks for everything and stay safe yourself, Dr. Sinian," he said, flashing her a brief smile before hurrying away.

He returned to the hangar, loaded his Cyclotron aboard the jet, changed clothes then went up to their apartment just minutes before his partner magically appeared in their living room.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

While his partner was doing things without his knowledge, T-Bone was finishing up the grueling training session.

"You are as trained as we can make you both in so short a time. The rest is up to you," Conall said. "It has been a pleasure working with you and I wish you good fortune in keeping your world safe."

"Thank you for all you've done for us," Callie said, exhaustion dragging at her voice.

"Yes, thank you and, not to be rude, I hope we succeed in keeping your world out of ours," Feral said, barely able to stand.

"No offense taken. I certainly hope you do to," Conall said with a genial smile then turned to his nephew. "My Prince. I await seeing you in person very soon. Stay alive and safe coming through the portal."

"I will Uncle. See you soon," T-Bone said, bowing his head then shutting down the magic that held his uncle's image then cloaking his own away. Turning toward his students, he stared at them critically. No way was he leaving by tomorrow as planned. The two before him would not be awake and ready to defend the city when he opened the portal so he would have to wait much to his disgust and annoyance. Sighing, he addressed the tired pair.

"Well its obvious I will have to wait until the day after tomorrow, which is Saturday, to leave through the portal. You have to be alert to guard it when its opened by me so I'm delayed a bit longer." He frowned a moment then asked, "Are you two hearing me?" he asked, his expression doubtful.

Feral blinked a moment as his tired mind processed what the SWAT Kat had said. He couldn't believe how sluggish his thought processes were. He'd just never been this tired before. He finally got the gist of what T-Bone was saying to respond.

"Sorry to delay you. I know how badly you want to leave. We'll be alright by Saturday morning early, promise. I could have wished for some actual practice time but understand this is not an option. It's going to be hell figuring out these new skills on the fly but I know I'll manage somehow."

"If it makes you feel any better, I wish I could give you more practice time too but with the time difference between here and there..."

"I know. Your mother has been fighting a long time, I understand and none of us wants your war to drag on either so we'll manage without you," Feral grumbled, irritably.

T-Bone blinked in surprise, never expecting the big tom to be this understanding and willing to do what was necessary to end the war though he knew Feral was more interested in saving Megakat City than Alaria but that was okay and right anyway.

"We do understand the urgency, T-Bone, despite how tired we are, don't worry," Callie added, nearly slurring her words then sighed and asked, "Could you send me home? I don't really think I can drive this time without crashing."

The tabby smirked. "Oh, we wouldn't want that to happen. Of course, I can and send your vehicle to your garage as well. Want to go now?"

"Yes, please," she sighed, relieved. With a simple gesture T-Bone sent her home.

"What about you?" The tabby asked Feral. Thinking a moment and testing his strength, Feral was forced to admit he too wouldn't be able to get himself home either and didn't want to ask for a ride when he could be home in seconds.

"Yea sure, good idea," he reluctantly agreed. T-Bone nodded and made the same gesture again. Feral was gone in the blink of an eye.

Sighing and stretching, T-Bone magically left the room for home. The Enforcers, he knew, were going to freak out a bit by the three's sudden disappearance from a locked room (he had unlocked it out of courtesy to them) but they would have to get used to the weirdness when their own leader began doing magic around them.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"So how did it go?" Jake asked from his seated position on the couch. He had just turned the TV on when his partner appeared directly before him.

Magically changing his clothes, Chance gave his friend a tired smile and walked over to sit beside his friend. "They surpassed all my expectations. The training was grueling but they held up and finished. Wish I could take time to test their skills. My uncle, however, feels confident they are ready so that's good enough for me. The bad news is I need to wait two days before leaving."

Jake's heart jumped at that news. "Why wait?"

Chance grunted and sighed. "Because the two of them are now flat on their backs asleep and if I left now there would be no leader to guard the portal once I opened it."

Feeling a bit stupid at not remembering that, Jake relaxed. "Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry about that buddy, I know how badly you wanted to leave," he said. So they had a little more time but now came the hard part, convincing his partner to take him along. But first...

"So on the mundane side of things, what would you like to eat for dinner, buddy?" he asked.

"Hmm...oh...conjured food?" Chance asked innocently.

Jake rolled his eyes but laughed and said, "yea, sure why not, make mine a tuna and anchovy topped pizza with a double of milk." Chance chuckled but conjured the meal on the coffee table along with his own choice, a totally maxed out sandwich filled with all his favorite fixin's and milk. They chowed down and watched some TV, unwinding from the busy, stressful day. Jake would wait until they'd finished their meal before hitting Chance with his ultimatum.


	20. Chapter 20

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 20: "I'm going!"

The food was good despite where it came from but now they were through eating and was just chillin'. No excuse to delay now. He had to tell Chance what he intended to do and what he'd already got done before his partner discovered his bedroom had been stripped and the kitchen was empty of supplies (that's if he even bothered looking there as he could zap up whatever he wanted).

Chance interrupted his thoughts a second later with, "I just realized I'm going to miss my favorite cartoon. My uncle said watching plays was one of the main reasons they liked to visit here. They never experienced TV or movie houses as they appeared around the time the Dark King began his war so they aren't familiar with those."

Jake shook his head. "I have a hard time fathoming a war that's been going on . . . centuries, isn't it?"

His partner winced. "Yeah, about that . . . I have the same problem. How could anyone keep a war going that long in the first place, is what I don't understand. Imagine all the deaths and no new births . . . the population has to be quite small now so how is he keeping the war going?"

"Well we are talking about magic and immortal beings. We don't know what it takes to kill some of the things on that world nor how much magic plays a part in keeping your species alive to keep fighting. The Fae might be few, but I'm not certain you can say the same for some of those other races," Jake said, thoughtfully.

Chance stared up at the ceiling and sighed. Reaching up to rub his face, he said distantly, "From what I remember my uncle telling me, your theory sounds about right. Conall said at the time the amulet had been made, our numbers had begun to shrink alarmingly. Races on my mother's side of the war were dwindling too while the Dark King's allies have been increasing. I just don't know enough to understand why."

Jake had no response to that. They would just have to wait until they got there to find out the truth. And that brought him to the part where he needed to state his case about going. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he jumped in with both feet.

"Chance?"

His partner was still slumping on the couch, eyes closed. "Hmm?"

"I'm going with you."

There was no response for a long moment then a single word . . . "no." The tabby never looked up nor moved when he said that. "Of course that's not going to stop you from telling me why that's not a good idea," he went on to say, a note of resignation in his voice.

Jake couldn't help but smile despite the grim subject. Perhaps it wouldn't be that hard to convince his partner after all.

"Look, buddy . . . first of all, we've been a team for ten years now. We function as one not as individuals when we fight the bad guys. This gives us the edge in all our battles. Though your Uncle Conall is a good fighter, he's not fought by your side except these past few weeks and that's not even really him. Second of all, we have our tech. Though the Fae are aware of science and have seen it on their visits here that was long ago and I doubt very much they know anything about our modern tech, and I don't think they really care to know. Because of this, they won't know what the jet is much less what it's capable of nor how our weapons work . . . "

"But they can make the jet vanish instantly when we arrived. Then what will you do?" Chance interrupted, sitting up to stare at his partner, mildly amused.

Jake winced. "Yeah, there is that but you're going to be there to stop any magical bullet reaching us and besides, as arrogant as your kind seems to be in general, I suspect they may have a low opinion of anyone without magic. We can use that against them as they won't think to do anything to us at first. Or at least until they know exactly who you are, anyway," he said, shrugging.

"Anyway, in those few precious seconds we have when we burst through the portal, we'll have to do the most harm. Of course, once they learn what the jet and my weapons can do we'll be screwed as there's nothing in the sky but birds. However, that pales in comparison to just how terrified and angry they'll be when they learn the prophesied Prince has returned," he said, giving his partner a smirk. Chance rolled his eyes.

"However, I have done what I could to keep the jet from becoming a casualty in the first place. I permeated the outer skin with iron making it harder to be affected by magic. Should surprise them a lot when they can't get rid of the Turbokat."

"Hmm, yeah that would work but it also prevents me from using my magic . . . thought of that genius?"

His friend shook his head. "Of course I did. There's a cocoon of a sorts around your cockpit area that's iron free so you won't be hampered. I, however, will have a barrier of iron around me so take care not to get into my half of the jet."

Chance just stared at him. "You are something else, you know that? So you think if I can keep the enemy from vanishing the jet and off you, your missiles can devastate the enemy . . . is that your plan?"

"Yes! All my armaments have iron in them. The missiles I chose are filled with iron dust and fillings that will take out large concentrations of the enemy. The down side of course, is your side has to vamoose the moment we attack to prevent them from coming to harm. This will have to be planned carefully for the maximum amount of damage to be done to the enemy but not the innocent. Should also end the war rather quickly, don't you think?"

"I'll say. However, what will you use when we arrive since we have only seconds as you said from entry through the portal to seeing what's on the other side?"

"A special headlamp on the nosecone of the Turbokat. It will have a wide radius and super brightness factor so that it strikes whoever is guarding the gate the instant we pass through then my flashbulb missiles can follow up to keep them running. However, if its daylight when we arrive, then we need to be traveling at the speed of light when we go through the portal. I'll fire a concussion missile just as we pass into your world to confuse and stun anyone waiting. As we cross the countryside, if we run into the King's army, then I'm hoping my iron-laced netting and sleep gas will hold them back enough to allow us to meet up with your mother's forces," his partner said, promptly.

Chance blinked in surprise then smiled broadly. "Wow, that's a great idea! With that headlamp on, I doubt we'll need to fire a shot before we're out of there and traveling at that speed and entering so quickly, the forces waiting will be too surprised and unprepared for something they aren't familiar with. It should work. I can't think of anything else we could do at this point."

"If it works like we hope, buddy, we'll manage to slip through and past whoever is waiting and be halfway gone before they can react. It has the added bonus of keeping your presence hidden from the Dark King as long as possible," Jake added, grinning too.

"There's that...I am so glad you're such a genius, Jake. My biggest worry had been getting through the portal without giving myself away and you've come up with the perfect way to do it. I feel much better about our chances of ending this thing quickly now," Chance had to admit.

"By the way, do you know where to go when we get there? Since this is only your uncle's simulacrum, he wouldn't know where the Queen might be holed up at." This was something Jake was most worried about.

"Fortunately, that's not an issue. My mother has many places to hide but only one that can hold all our people safely and easy to defend, that's the one my uncle imprinted on my mind. So in answer to your question, I could fly us there blind," his partner assured him.

Jake sighed out a breath of relief. "That's good news. Then all we have to do is blind the gate guards, race across the world and join your mother . . . piece of cake."

Chance snorted. "When has anything been a piece of cake for us? But you're right, it's the best plan we've got and I won't jinx it now."

His friend gave him an understanding look. "Getting in isn't going to be as hard as ending this war, I understand that, buddy. But I've done all I can to insure we survive it and return home. Besides the nets, sleep gas, and flashbulb missiles; I've designed missiles filled with iron fillings. Also, since I don't want the iron we brought to leave the land permanently unusable by your people, after the war is over we'll use our huge electromagnet to remove the fillings and store them in canisters I have aboard the Turbokat for transport back to our world."

Chance stared at his brilliant friend in admiration and amazement. He often wondered why such a genius wanted to hang around someone like him but the slim tom had liked something about him and thus a bond of true friendship had grown. None of his current life would have been possible without Jake by his side.

He also realized Jake had won his case about going along. The tabby shook his head, actually pleased to be wrong in his decision. "Okay, you've proved your point. I'm forced to admit that I can't possibly leave you behind. So that only leaves a few important questions still to be answered. One, what about management of our garage and salvage yard; two, what about our bill with the enforcers and bills here; three, where will our customers go; and fourth, have you notified Feral you're going with me?" he asked, eyeing his partner seriously.

But Jake merely smiled at him then ran down his list of completed chores.

Chance whistled. "Why the heck didn't you think of selling your designs before now? We could have worried less about our debt?"

Jake blushed and shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I just never gave it a thought until I had to. Unless we manage to get paid somehow on this trip, I'll have to do more of it when we get back."

The tabby laughed. "From what I was told, money isn't necessary there but gold and silver are used to make jewelry and various other sundry items. I'm sure we could have some if we wanted. I suspect I have a ready supply as Prince already."

"That's what I hoped but I thought it would be crass to ask." Jake was glad one problem was solved. Home life should be better when they returned.

"I can't believe you took care of all those details, even ones I hadn't even thought about. So I guess we're ready to leave at a moment's notice then, eh?"

"Yep."

Chance shook his head. "I say again . . . you are amazing." Jake blushed and smiled, pleased he'd made his friend less worried about their lives they were leaving behind. "Since we aren't going to leave until Saturday, I take it I have to conjure bedding, personal items, and food for the next thirty or so hours, hmm?" The tabby asked, smirking a little.

Jake just shrugged and nodded.

Chanced laughed. "No problem and it has the bonus of allowing me to rest thoroughly before we leave and you too," he added. "I don't want you rushing about with last minute things and tire yourself out."

"I won't. Really, everything is done so I have nothing but resting to do and believe me, I'm pooped from all I got done today," Jake promised.

When Jake mentioned the work he'd gotten done in such a short time made Chance realize he'd forgotten one very important thing himself.

"Crud! I forgot to get my sword. I can't magic it to me because the blade is iron and I'm too tired to magic myself there. Guess I need to run over to the museum to get it tomorrow," he grumbled, annoyed at himself.

"Well, it's not like you can't sleep in and then go later. How about we go do that then eat out at our favorite place for dinner then take in a movie? That will relax us and help us sleep before leaving the next day," Jake suggested.

"Cool. I like that plan. So now that tomorrow's schedule is settled, how about bed?" Chance asked, rising from the couch and heading toward their bedrooms.

"Good idea." Jake yawned and followed his partner, pleased he had won his case and was going. Now he could rest more easily.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Chance enjoyed being able to sleep without waking to an alarm or duty. It felt rather decadent and he would love it more if the urgency of leaving weren't pressing on him.

It was well past one in the afternoon when he finally got up. He took a long hot shower then went in search of his partner and lunch. He found Jake watching TV and eating a sandwich that he must have gone out and bought.

"How long have you been up?" Chance asked, sitting down beside his friend then conjuring a sub sandwich for himself with a large glass of water.

"Hmm . . . oh around eight or so, puttered around a bit, did some work on a few inventions I have cooking then went for a walk to the deli for lunch. You sleep well?"

"Yeah, felt really great sleeping as long as I wanted to. We don't get many lazy days like this and it kind of feels like a vacation."

"Too bad it's only one day. Maybe when we return home and before we get back in the saddle of work and being heroes, we should take a real vacation. Maybe a week or more. We'll need it after fighting in a war," Jake suggested, finishing his last bit of sandwich then grabbing his milk.

"What a great idea. No one will know we've returned until we tell them so why not take some time for ourselves. I like how you think, buddy," Chance grinned.

"You're welcome." Jake surfed the channels and found his friend's favorite show, Scaredy-Kat.

"Alright! Thanks buddy," Chance said, settling down to laughing at the outrageous cartoon and finishing his lunch. Jake just smiled.

A couple hours later, the two toms changed to their SWAT Kat suits and rode their Cyclotrons to the Megakat Natural History Museum. They found Dr. Sinian on the main floor in a huge room where there was a hive of activity going on. She was directing the work on a new exhibit that would open in about a week.

"Oh, I thought you were gone already, T-Bone," she said, surprised. She led them to a quiet corner where they could talk privately.

"Can't. Have to wait until Ms. Briggs and Commander Feral are rested from their last training session. After all, they have to guard the portal once Razor and I go through," T-Bone explained.

Abi looked over at Razor and smiled. "I see you managed to convince him of your importance to this mission, hmm?"

"Yeah, I overwhelmed him with facts," Razor grinned back.

T-Bone merely rolled his eyes at the two of them. "I'm here for the sword of my family, doc."

"Oh, yes, of course. Follow me," she said, leading the way back to her office. "I thought you might need it so left it locked in my office after I had it cleaned." She opened the door and walked past her desk to a locked cabinet. Unlocking it, she opened it to reveal shelves with many objects stored on them. She reached in and reverently removed the sheathed sword. Turning, she ceremoniously handed it to T-Bone. "Your sword Prince Lorcan," she said, bowing her head.

With equal formality, T-Bone bowed his head and took it from her paws, raising it briefly to salute her. "My thanks and appreciation for your care of my family's heirloom, Doctor Sinian."

"You're welcome, your highness. Please use it wisely and return to us alive and well."

T-Bone's normal cheeky smile returned, dropping the formality to say, "Whatever it takes, doc, we will return. I promise. We can't fail! What with all the cool weapons Razor has invented for us, it's the Dark King who needs to beware."

Abi couldn't help but smile at the cocky attitude of the big tom. It was that mindset that would see him through this war alive. "I'm sure you will. Safe trip to you both. We'll miss you."

"Thanks. Keep the city safe, doc! Don't forget you're every bit as important as we are," T-Bone said gallantly before he and his partner left her office to return home.

Only ten minutes later they roared down the secret ramp to the hangar. They parked the Cyclotrons inside the jet then changed clothes. Going back upstairs, they left through the garage and out the gate, locking it up behind them, then headed for the bus stop down the street. They took it downtown to the city center where they had a great meal then walked to the nearby cinema, enjoying not one but two movies before getting home late. Watching David Litterbin finished their evening before going off to bed.

The next morning shone bright and sunny as the two warriors rose to greet the day around eight a.m. Jake was up first, as usual, so when Chance went to the bathroom he was greeted by his friend just leaving it, a billow of steam following him out the door.

"Good morning, buddy. All yours," Jake said, cheerily.

Chance just rolled his eyes and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Less than twenty minutes later, the two had eaten, the apartment was cleaned (courtesy of Chance's magic) then the tabby went down to the hangar while Jake paused to secure their apartment. Finished moments later, he went down to the hangar, pausing again to seal the secret hatch before going to change his clothing to his g-suit.

While he waited for his partner, T-Bone gave the hangar a last look around. He prayed all went well on this trip and they returned safely. The hangar looked rather strange with all their belongings from their apartment and garage stuffed in here but at least it all would be safe and unharmed when they returned.

Though he hadn't talked about this with his partner, he hadn't any plans for staying in his mother's kingdom. He still had a mission here to fulfill and he hoped she would understand . . . provided she was still alive. He shook his head. No negative thoughts only positive ones, he told himself firmly. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Razor who smiled at him then leaped into the cockpit. Focusing his mind back on the mission, T-Bone leaped aboard as well then started the engines.

Razor signaled the turntable to lower them to the runway then ran through his preflight checklist and weapons array. He too spared a quick, last glance at their hangar before it vanished from view by the lowering platform. Sighing, he knew he'd done all he could to ensure their lives here would remain unchanged so they could slip back in like they'd never been gone. His only worry was would he be returning alone? He would have to wait and see.

As the turntable halted at the opening to the runway and T-Bone prepared to launch them, Razor turned on their new headlamp and was pleased by its quick response and brightness factor. His partner made an unintelligible sound of pleasure at the weapon's effectiveness before ordering it off so he wouldn't be blinded going up the ramp. Razor flipped it off and felt the familiar sensation of being pressed in his seat as the jet tore up the runway and into the sky. His stomach swarmed with butterflies in fear and excitement as they headed toward Megakat Park and their destiny.


	21. Chapter 21

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 21: Through the Portal

Arriving at Megakat Park a few short minutes later, they encountered a circle of choppers outfitted with huge spotlights guarding the site. They were quickly identified and allowed to land. T-Bone parked the Turbokat outside the protective rings Feral had set up.

The pair leaped from the cockpit and walked toward the first of the rings which were Enforcers wearing Keflar vests, armed with large flashlights and large bore weapons that would fire iron fillings and standing some thirty feet from the portal area. Passing through this ring, the two reached the second ring some twenty feet further on consisting of Professor Hackle's robots that wore a thin layer of iron over their hard metal bodies.

Though of mixed blood, T-Bone still hissed when he came within ten feet of that much iron. The city did not use true iron in its technology or buildings, choosing a mixture of steel and Agracite instead which was why T-Bone could live there without a problem.

However, the robots wore enough raw iron that he could feel it burning his skin for the first time and it wasn't pleasant. He halted in his tracks and frowned. On the one hand it proved Feral's defenses would work against the Fae but on the other hand, it made it hard for him to function.

Guessing immediately what his partner's problem was, Razor pushed forward at a run, squeezing between the robots who didn't stop him as he made for Feral and Briggs standing not far from the portal's probable location.

While he waited, T-Bone heard a rustling noise overhead. Glancing upward, he gaped at all the Enforcers hanging in the trees above him like some kind of weird looking fruit. Each one had on vests and were armed with the same special flashlights like the ground troops but they also had slingshots and a belt laden with plastic baggies filled with iron fillings and dust. He shook his head in amazement. Feral had really outdone himself which made the tabby feel relieved about his adopted people's chances of surviving anything coming through the portal.

Meanwhile, Razor had reached Feral. "Make them move, Commander. T-Bone can't get close to that much iron."

Feral grimaced a bit in embarrassment. How could he have forgotten that? Quickly he barked an order, "You four..." he pointed at the robots standing before him, "...move to make an opening." Instantly four robots stepped backward and took up a temporary position behind their fellow robots forming the ring, leaving a wide hole in their perimeter.

Through this, T-Bone ran up to them, staying firmly in the center, arriving at his partner's side moment's later. "Seems you've covered all the bases you could, Feral. Great job. It should work well repelling whatever comes through. So are you and Ms. Briggs ready?" he asked, eyeing their new getups.

Feral and Briggs had opted to dress in Enforcer combat suits and were also wearing Keflar vests. It seemed strange to see Callie in anything but her ususal pink power suit though he had to admit she really looked good in it.

"Yes we are," Feral responded, pulling him away from ogling Callie. "You ready for your leap into a war zone?"

"As much as you are, I think. Razor invented some nifty stuff to ensure we're not blown away the second we go through and we're going in at light speed to keep the bad guys from stopping us before we find my mother," T-Bone answered. "However, you'll have to put up a magical protective wall to keep your Enforcers safe until we've past through."

Feral blinked at that then frowned and glanced over at Callie. "Better give us a moment to come up with the right spell and parameters for that..." He began to say before T-Bone interrupted.

"Since it will take us some minutes to get far enough to reach the speed we need that should be enough time for you."

Feral nodded that this was true then something the tom said before made him frown again. "Wait...I thought Razor was staying here?"

"Sorry, Commander but I felt it important I go with T-Bone. After all, I'm the gunner and it will be up to me to insure he survives to do what he has to. You two can handle what happens here. I have confidence in you," the slim tom answered for his friend.

Feral rolled his eyes but sighed rather than lose his temper. The SWAT Kat was right after all. "I can't argue with that though I would have appreciated getting a heads up. Anyway, for all our sakes, I hope you're right about Briggs and I," Feral grunted. "If you're ready to do this, she and I will get a second spell ready and in place." The Commander shifted the same weapon his Enforcers were armed with from one to the other paw, the only outward sign of nerves.

T-Bone couldn't blame him. Here he was leaving the big tom to defend his city against an unknown magical foe with only himself, a she-kat and his tech army behind him. It proved, not that it was necessary, just how brave, intelligent, and resourceful the tom was.

The big SWAT Kat made a solemn vow that if he returned home safely, he wouldn't be such a dickhead to Feral. Stiff-necked and stubborn the tom may be but he had more than earned the tabby's respect for being a great leader and protector to the city they both loved.

Of course, working on the wrong side of the law was still thumbing his nose at the Enforcer Commander and what he stood for but he couldn't stop being a SWAT Kat. He snorted at himself. Here I am, Prince of my people, and I'm still an outlaw here. Conflicted much? Shaking his head mentally, he refocused on the mission at paw saving the introspection for when they were all safe again. Now it was time to make history.

"Roger! We're off then. Good luck to you all!" T-Bone shouted for all to hear receiving a ragged cheer in response.

"Same to you SWAT Kat or should I say Prince Lorcan?" Feral said archly, trying for a little wry humor between them.

T-Bone paused to give Feral one of his patented smirking grins, "It's T-Bone to you Commander." Feral snorted at that and hid a smile.

Before the tabby could head out, Callie stopped him. "T-Bone!" She hugged him hard, released him then gave Razor a hug as well but whispered something in his ear. "I'm glad you're not staying behind but I'll be worried about you both." She stepped back before he could respond and said to both, "Make sure you come back alive and in one piece."

"Don't you worry Ms. Briggs. We'll be back!" T-Bone assured her, smiling warmly, before heading off at a run for their jet, Razor a swift moving shadow beside him.

They jumped aboard the Turbokat and in minutes, T-Bone had VTOL'd skyward then flew off to gain altitude and reach the speed they needed.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Feral and Callie quickly discussed the spell needed then ran off, splitting from each other as they headed to opposite sides of the war zone and outside the ring of Enforcers then turning about and facing each other. Once there they raised their paws and invoked the protection wall T-Bone had wanted. Moments later a wall of what looked like shimmery gauze settled in place before the ring of robots. Feral called his leaders on the radio to tell them what was happening so they wouldn't be disturbed by the wall and wonder what was going on. Once they understood, the troops stood their ground and waited alertly for the next phase to begin, praying the magical wall was strong enough to keep the Turbokat from blowing them all over in its passing.

A scream that assaulted the ears and a sudden blast of magic hitting the ground were the only warnings they got the SWAT Kats were making their run. The portal appeared suddenly looking like a huge jet hangar. This allowed the Turbokat to pass through but, of course, it also meant the enemy now had a huge opening to pass through but that couldn't be helped. They had to hope the surprise of something so huge and metallic passing through would prevent much of the enemy from daring to leap through the opening in the first place.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Aboard the jet, Razor turned on the huge spotlight he'd affixed to the jet's nosecone and set in his mind the order of weapons he intended to use once they passed through.

"Passing through now!" T-Bone warned just as the jet hurtled into darkness so black only the spotlight helped him see anything at all. Not even a moon helped dispel the gloom.

"Crud! The ground is moving with things I can't see! Firing sleep gas now!" Razor shouted, firing a brace of missiles immediately.

Multiple explosions lit the pitch black sky. Because of their speed, Razor couldn't tell if his efforts were working or not but the good news was they hadn't been stopped. The surprise of such a strange and unknown thing charging into their sky had worked to the SWAT Kats advantage as they'd hoped, allowing them to move past the portal entrance and toward the mountains unimpeded, the portal closing swiftly behind them.

Using the coordinates T-Bone had given him before they left, Razor directed his partner to fly north by northwest.

"We'll have to fly by instruments buddy as the spotlight really can't keep up with our speed to show me much," T-Bone called back to his partner.

"Yeah, I expected that but at least we made it through without interference..." Razor started to say when the jet suddenly shuddered from an unseen blow that rocked them hard. "What the hell?"

"I can't see it but it could be a dragon or gryphon or both. The fact they're only doing hit and runs rather than grab latching on tells me your iron covering is working somewhat," T-Bone said, grimly keeping control of the yoke against the occasional battering from their unseen enemies in the air.

"That's good to know but we can't take too much of this battering so let's see if they like a shower of iron dust..." Razor said grimly, firing a spray of deadly metal out of some side ports he'd installed on the jet's upper left and right sides and tail section.

Roars of pain were heard very close to the cockpit before fading away as the enemy fled in fear.

"Bingo!" Razor crowed.

"Way to go buddy. I think I'll dare to engage all engines to get us out of here faster before those things get enough courage to come back," T-Bone said, hitting the button for the upper two engines, then feeling the g's pressing him against his seat. A fiery comet's tail marked their passage through the pitch black sky.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Back on the Megakat City side of the portal, everyone's ears were still ringing from the jet's passing but to their relief, the magical wall had held, keeping them safe. Now their only concern was the brief moment between the jet's departure and the closing of the portal where the enemy could leap through. It would be only minutes but that was enough time they discovered. Because in those moments a veritable army came pouring out at them.

Despite the shock of something large and fast roaring over their heads and disappearing into their world, the army waiting near the portal shook off the fear and scrambled through the quickly closing opening. No one but those unable to withstand sunlight, hesitated to go as the punishment their King would have meted out, was far more terrifying than launching themselves into an unknown world with enemies waiting for them.

So it was that fremlins, trolls, gryphons, and dragons were the only ones to be able to come through the portal. A few daring pukas and Hoblins tried to come through but howled in pain as their skin burned only seconds later, forcing them to retreat. Their unaffected companions continued to pour out until the portal snapped shut, grotesquely cutting in half those not quite through the opening then all of that vanished.

To Feral and Briggs, it was a relief that the hoard was manageable. They didn't want to think what would have happened if the portal had remained open any longer. But what had gotten through were going to be a challenge. Feral watched with shuddering apprehension at what had vomited out of the portal. He could do nothing but continue holding the magical web he and Briggs were sustaining behind the last line of defense as a horde of nasties charged them.

Huge trolls, ugly hairless things that stood more than ten feet tall and looking like orange walking rocks, stalked toward the robots until they towered over them but there they were halted by metal dust fired on them by the robots and the sling shot wielding Enforcers in the trees. The creatures roared in pain but seemed to ignore it enough to try and grab the robots, screaming again at the searing pain of touching so much iron. Infuriated, the trolls picked up the robots and hurled them toward the Enforcer line forcing them to break rank. But it didn't stop the brave Kats from firing back with their own brand of bazooka driven missiles filled with iron. Many of the hulking things were knocked off their feet while others took direct hits that turned them into dust.

Above the battle, the choppers found themselves engaging dragons and gryphons. The creatures were very agile. The Enforcer pilots had a hard time keeping themselves from being knocked from the sky and failing but the ones that succeeded caused showers of golden dust to fall whenever they managed to tag one of the flying beasts with their iron-filled missiles.

A mass of fremlins raced at that swift, eye-blurring speed, that made them nearly invisible, toward the robot line of defenders. They had managed to duck under and around the robots engaging the trolls but more than half of them fell to the onslaught of dust from the rest of the robots who closed in to engage the enemy and prevent them from passing through to the Enforcers and the city beyond that.

Those fremlins that did manage to get past were caught in the magical sticky web Feral and Briggs had created behind the robot line the instant the jet had vanished. It had been exhausting work to maintain such a thing for long and both were already feeling the strain just minutes after casting the spell. Prince Conall had suggested this as their last line of defense, believing it should be all that was necessary during those first moments of the portal's opening.

So far it seemed his gamble was right. The Fremlins screamed at the feel of strange magic holding them like flies in a spider's web. Not strong enough to withstand this foreign spell, they burst into golden dust.

Meanwhile the Enforcer line backed up the robots with rocket launchers filled with iron fillings and were succeeding somewhat at keeping the enemy at bay. However, several of the bigger enemy (trolls and dragons particularly) managed to avoid or ignore the pain caused by the iron weapons and charged down the Enforcers making them scatter.

Feral and Briggs had one more trick up their sleeves to stop these bigger and more powerful enemies from getting out of the park. He shouted into his paws-free radio, "Choppers, plan delta!" Immediately, his chopper flight broke off their fight and backed away for their superior's last ditch plan. As soon as his forces were safe he used his tongue to change the frequency and told Briggs, "Briggs, plan delta now!"

"Roger!" she shouted back in her own headset then tipped as far backward as she dared without falling over as she and Feral raised the magical web to go from ground level to as high as they both were able to send it skyward.

Speaking into his radio again, Feral roared another command. "Now!"

Choppers and ground forces turned their weapons toward the spot they knew the invisible magical web was hanging and fired their weapons covering the net with iron dust and filings then retreated out of reach of the enemy.

The bloodlust of battle blinded the enemy to the danger so they remainder of the Dark Fae ran headlong into the deadly net. Contact immediately turned them all into dust much to Feral and Briggs' relief as holding that any longer was becoming impossible.

Still on alert, his arms and mind straining, Feral searched the battle field for more enemy. Finding none, only then did he bark new orders. "Briggs drop the spell!" She did so with a groan of relief. He felt the same, his arms like lead as he changed frequencies and shouted, "Stand down! Battle is over! Begin cleanup. Choppers return to headquarters."

From outside the park, big magnets attached to special boom arms on Enforcer hummers moved forward obeying the order to collect the iron filings and dust while vacuum trucks followed them to store it in big canisters. Though they weren't bothered by the iron themselves, they did need to reuse the iron for any future battles with the Fae and it wasn't good for the environment.

Feral trudged across the battle field toward Briggs who was doing the same. They met in the middle and looked around with relief and triumph.

"Yes, we kicked ass," Callie cheered.

Feral smiled. "We certainly did and you were fantastic."

She blushed, giving him a tired smile then turned her eyes toward where the portal had stood. "I'm glad the portal closed so swiftly. I doubt we could have held back anything bigger than what came through."

"I agree. We were warned an army might crawl through that doorway but it didn't come close to describing just how many we ended up facing," he said ruefully.

Callie grimaced. "I wonder how the guys are faring if this was only the tip of the iceberg."

Feral rubbed his face and felt exhaustion drag at every part of him. Doing magic was harder than fighting omegas. "Those two have always lived a charmed life. We have to pray that luck keeps them safe, alive, and winning that war. Anything else will only depress us."

She turned her head back, eyeing him thoughtfully. "That's a pretty optimistic thing to say, Ulysses, coming from you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "What would being negative get me? I may not be able to stand them but..." he paused to stare at the place where the two vigilantes had vanished. "...they do have good hearts and the bravery to match. They'll come back. Let's just keep our city safe until then shall we?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yes...let's."

He turned to walk toward their vehicles parked at the north entrance of the park. "Oh, by the way, have you set aside enough funds to manage the long term guarding of the park until we're certain the danger is over?" He asked her. "You know it could be anywhere from weeks, to maybe a year due to the time difference between here and there before we know if the war is over or not."

"Goddess, I sincerely hope it won't be that long, Commander, but in answer to your question ... yes I have. Despite the Mayor's groans and complaints, I made sure to allocate enough to main the size of force we need to keep out city safe. However, let's hope the only thing that will happen is we'll grow bored from waiting."

"No chance of that happening as we still have the Pastmaster to contend with but as for the war ... that I wouldn't mind having stay firmly there and not here," he said feelingly.

"Did you have to mention him," Callie snorted, mock angry. Feral just grinned and shrugged.

Reaching his hummer, he opened the door and was about to climb in when she halted him. "I think I'll see if I can return home instead of going to work. I don't know about you but I'm beyond tired."

"So am I but I can't leave until I'm certain things are truly safe then I'm going home too. My whole body feels like lead. I also need to get fresh troops out here to replace this lot. Are you sure you have enough energy to try that?" He asked, leaning against his open door and eyeing her.

"I think so. Just make sure you don't wait too long and you crash before you're able to get home. And don't worry about briefing his honor unless you stay too long in your office that tags you," she warned. "I'll take care of briefing him before I sleep. Pleasant dreams," she smirked then stepped away, closed her eyes and concentrated. Seconds later she vanished.

Feral shook his head as he watched Ms. Briggs flash out of sight. Hope she got home safely, he muttered to himself.

Looking around, he was pleased with what he saw. The ring of robots gleamed in the sun at station keeping. Despite some of them being tossed about like dolls, none had been so severely damaged they couldn't continue their job. Hackle made them tough alright. Which reminded him he should give the professor a call to thank him and to give him a lowdown on what happened.

Giving the area one last look, Feral felt satisfied that his defenses were secure and in place before climbing into his vehicle. Now he needed to get back to his office, write up the report on this incident, hand out new orders, then go home. With not so many omegas around, he could finally relax enough to leave work on his desk until tomorrow and truly rest. Now if only the Pastmaster will stay gone for a while longer, he thought. Sighing, he turned on his hummers engine, pulled out into traffic and drove back to headquarters.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The second the spell left her lips, Callie instantly felt a swooping sensation which ended just as quickly as it had begun. Opening her eyes cautiously, she smiled in delight when she saw she was in her living room.

"Yes! I think I like this form of travel." Smiling to herself, she went to the kitchen for something to drink, she was parched.

After downing one glass of juice, she refilled it with water and walked to her bedroom, her limbs getting heavier and heavier. Frowning, she set her glass down on her night stand, debated taking a shower but giving up the idea as too difficult to manage right now.

With just a thought, her clothes whisked off and dropped into her hamper and were replaced by her warm nightwear. She sat on the bed but before laying down, she reached for her phone and called the mayor. Catching him just leaving for the golf course, that made her eyes roll in annoyance, she quickly briefed him. He was ecstatic that the city was safe but not happy she wouldn't be in. She said something rude back then hung up on him.

Sighing, she took a sip of her water then crawled under the covers and was asleep in seconds.


	22. Chapter 22

**A WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 22: The Lost Prince Returns

Queen Sorcha's beautiful face looked tired and worn as she studied a map of her army's placement and listened to one of her generals describe some new atrocity at King Gareth's paws. Suddenly, her brother came hurrying in with a look of tension and excitement on his face.

Her heart sank. What new disaster had happened?

"My Queen!"

"What is it Conall?" Her voice filled with dread but holding herself with regal determination. Whatever it was she would face it as a Queen should.

"We have an emissary at our front lines from King Gareth's advisers who would speak with you."

"What?" She gaped at him in shocked disbelief. For as long as this war had been going on, none from Gareth's kingdom had ever requested a meet with her. What could this mean?

"It's true, my Queen. I myself went to see this person and believe him when he says they are tired of this war and afraid of their King." Conall lowered his voice as if he was afraid to be overheard and added, "They wish to put him aside permanently as he is too insane to trust any longer."

Sorcha's expression was one of tentative hope and shock. She had suspected Gareth might be insane but illness was extremely uncommon among the Fae. However, mind sickness in someone very old did happen though it was rare. Was this the case now? Shaking off those distracting thoughts, she focused on what her brother was saying.

"I think we should hear him out, my Queen. It could be our only chance to stop this endless war."

"Then bring him to me so we may see if this be a trick or the hope we have longed for."

Her brother nodded his head briskly then turned and flew out of her war room. Her generals eyed her worriedly as she turned back to them, their faces skeptical. Sighing, she tried to get her focus on their previous discussion but this new development kept intruding and one of her generals couldn't withhold commenting on this new event.

"I'm wary of this gesture, my Queen. It could be but a last minute feint before an all out attack," General Zinar warned, fanning his wings in agitation.

"Aye, I too am wary, my friend. We desperately need an end to this war but after so long . . . " Sorcha let her sentence hang then shook her head. "Let us wait and see. Until then..." She returned to the previous discussion. Her people had been disappointed too many times so she would wait to see if this was more of the same or a true request for an end.

Less than an hour later, her brother returned with four Dark Fae, tightly guarded behind him. One she recognized instantly.

"Tochere!"

"Aye, and ye look as radiant and beautiful as ever Queen Sorcha," the one addressed said sincerely, a sad smile looking odd on his cold and saturnine face.

"I thought nothing would take you from your army," she said, shocked and surprised. Perhaps all was not lost after all. This was one of Gareth's top advisers. A Fae as dark as midnight as he was handsome but cunning and cruel. His long fangs protruded on either side of his mouth and his wings were ebony with slashes of white and red streaking them. A formidable individual. For him to be here was unheard of and momentous.

"To bring an end to this travesty of a war that will destroy us all if it's not stopped, I would do anything required, including walking into the den of our enemy," Tochere said flatly, his body taut and alert, wings tense and tight at his back.

"Ahh, so things are dire with your king then?" she asked, cautiously. Let him state baldly to them all what the king's state of mind was. She would make no hasty conclusions.

Tochere's face pulled tight as if he'd swallowed a lemon. This was something he'd been loathed to admit for decades but was forced to accept when the heir apparent made him bear witness to the fact when he summoned him to see the King. Much as he wanted to, he could not deny his own ears and eyes of the King's madness. So long had he been kept at the front lines, he'd learned to dismiss the rumors that came to his ears and now he knew why he'd been kept away. No one had wanted him to see what had become of this once great leader knowing what he might do if he had.

And they'd been right! Fools they were to continue on in cowardice while their people suffered in a war that should never have been. He lay the guilt on the heir. Who else would know more intimately what was going on with the King than his own son? Even if the Prince had been afraid or unwilling to admit what he was seeing, it shouldn't have taken him more than a century to get the balls to decide enough was enough. What was more frightening and most likely the reason the Prince finally made his move was the gradual loss of magic from the land. This had to stop or they were all doomed. Terrified to his core, he obeyed the Prince's order to seek an alliance with the Queen of Light. Some of the races of Fae could survive on other worlds, but none of the Dark Fae could. The King was killing his own people and was too insane to notice. But all that was in the past now. Only saving the future mattered which was why he was here.

"King Gareth is insane," he said bluntly, no point in dancing around the truth. He wasn't here to save face. "I have seen it with my own eyes and ears. Being out in the field so many decades, I had wrongly dismissed the rumors of such a thing being true. Who would belief it of their leader? But I have seen the devastation, I have felt our magic fading, and yet still he calls on us to continue with this mad desire to conquer all. We will all die as a race if we allow this," he said passionately, his wings fanning the air in agitation.

Sorcha sighed within. At last someone else had seen the danger and it was someone who could make a difference but caution must still be observed, she warned herself. Nodding gravely at her unexpected ally, she walked down from her work area to stand before her guest.

"And what do you suggest we do about it? We've been fighting as hard as we can to stop him without much success," she said, throwing the ball back into his court. If they wanted her help, they had to be willing to do so without hesitation on their part. Her people could not survive a betrayal.

He eyed her intently. She was still the most beautiful thing in their world and to have her extinguished would destroy them all. He'd forgotten that in the heat of battle but standing here now, so close to her, he realized his folly. The Queen of the Light must survive and he had to convince her that he and the heir apparent were united in their desire to stop this madness.

"I am to serve as hostage and will remain here while these three return to inform his highness, Prince Lugus that we are in accord. He has a plan to take down his father then take his place as King. This is not something he has decided lightly and it is with a heavy heart. No one wishes to be named a kin-slayer but he knows what's at stake if he doesn't make a stand now. I and the armies these three lead are behind him on this. But I'd be a fool if I didn't know the King' s personal guard will defend him to the death. Nothing we say will turn them even their own eventual destruction when magic disappears completely. And there are the armies of creatures that heed only King Gareth's commands."

"A huge force to try and overcome, Tochere. So, a betrayal in the dark against his own guard with none of his armies being aware, is his plan?"

"Yes."

Sorcha grimaced. It was considered cowardice to take a King down in such a fashion but he wielded too much power to defeat any other way. If her son returned ... no she mustn't pin her hopes on that. If he comes things could change but he wasn't here now so she must find a way to make this work. "I do not envy him such a task. What is it he wishes of me while he attempts this thing?"

Tochere swallowed bile at what he was about to say, "Initiate an assault on his rear flank. These generals will sneak you in so that you and they can act as decoys while the Prince and his conspirators act."

Her face pinched together in a frown that equaled the emissary's own. "For a plan, it has many holes in it with higher than average risks. How will Prince Lugus get the King alone to accomplish what he must and does he have enough forces to fight off the King's guards?"

The dark face went cold and flat. "He hopes to call the King away to a private conference then dispatch him before his guards are aware. He does have enough warriors at his side to dispatch the guards but ..." he shrugged. "... we both know the guard is very well trained and have no regard for their lives which makes them a suicidal and difficult force to defeat," he admitted bitterly.

Sorcha sighed and shook her head. The whole plan was suicidal and all she could see were the last of her army destroyed and following that the end of Aleria. Something else had to be figured out but what? Before she could voice her doubts an interruption caused by a rush of excited of voices coming from the passageway made everyone's heads turn to see what was going on. Only seconds later the reason came zooming in through the cave archway, flying above everyone's head. A caterfly messenger flew so fast, it wings were a blur. As it got closer, it's face was filled with excitement, shock, and hope. It didn't halt its headlong flight until it was nearly in the Queen's face.

"Your majesty!" the creature squeaked, breathlessly.

"What is it? Calm yourself then speak." Sorcha eyed the tiny creature in concern.

It gulped and tried to slow its breathing but it was a losing battle and it's message was obviously too shocking and important.

"The Prince! *gasp* The Prince *wheeze* has come in a strange machine. *pant* He's nearly here!"

Sorcha's eyes widened. Were her prayers finally being answered? Before she could get anymore details a loud roar, much stronger and ear piercing than a dragon could ever produce, filled the mountain making it ring.

Everyone covered their ears in pain, their sensitive hearing tortured from the high pitched sound. Fear and wonder filled all faces including Tochere and his fellow Dark Fae. As suddenly as it had filled their ears, the thunderous noise ceased, stunning everyone into immobility.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Minutes before...

"I think that's the mountain we're looking for, buddy," Razor called into his helmet radio as he checked his coordinates.

"Yeah, you're right. I can feel strong magic coming from there unlike the devastated landscape we flew over," T-Bone agreed. "But ya got any idea where to land the jet?"

"Cruise by on VTOL and I'll check."

T-Bone did so, floating them close but watching the wingtips didn't brush against the many outcrops of stone he could barely make out in the murky light. The thick darkness had been left behind them but away from that area, they'd discovered it was actually daylight but the sun was obscured by some kind of nasty green haze. The sickly quality of the sky and the ground below him, made T-Bone uneasy. He hoped his homecoming wasn't too late. His gloomy thoughts were interrupted by his partner's shout.

"Found the perfect spot. Go forward five clicks. You should see a huge cavernous opening. The jet will fit in there with room to spare and my instruments tell me there is a large collection of warm bodies just beyond that in another large cavern," Razor said with satisfaction.

"Roger." T-Bone used the steering jets to guide the Turbokat forward until he spotted the dark opening in the mountain wall. Turning the jet, he nudged it forward, using the lights Razor had attached to see better. A large clearing appeared making him sigh in relief. Setting the jet down carefully, he grimaced. Razor might have said it was roomy enough but it looked rather tight to him. Far too much rock close to the jet's wingtips for his tastes. As soon as the wheels touched ground he cut the engines, knowing full well the roar from them was probably deafening everyone within.

In a hurry to see his mother for the first time, T-Bone shot the canopy open, grabbed the sword he'd gotten from the museum, and leaped to the floor. A thud behind him told him his partner had done the same. The canopy slid shut and he heard the distinctive sound of security being set. His partner was insuring no one got hurt trying to check this strange craft out. As they strode forward, he was reminded of his conversation with his uncle before leaving.

"Uncle, how should I appear before my people and mother when we meet?"

"My first response would be, appear as the prince you are, but on reflection, I would have to say, be the warrior you are here. It will show our people both your heritages and prove that you are a warrior in both forms. Many would fear you were nothing more than a helpless non-magical outsider but armed as you are and the excellent shape you're in will go far to convince them otherwise," Conall had said after some thought.

"Sounds like a good idea, thanks."

"You're welcome, my prince. Good fortune to you and safe passage. See you in person soon."

Now he was actually, really here at last and stalking across the rough floor of the cavern as a Kat, sword in paw and glovetrix on his arm with his partner beside him. As his uncle had suggested, he would make them accept him in his Kat form given to him by his mother and his heritage before revealing his Fae form.

Suddenly, a group of soldiers flew toward them but didn't attack. T-Bone halted in his tracks, Razor standing close and a step behind him, and waited to see what their reception would be. The leader of the group gaped at him and shook his head in disbelief. The soldiers were equally stunned and confused. All eyes flicked to the strange craft then back to the aliens who were clearly the same species as their lost consort.

Though, this could be the prince they'd been told would return, the leader had to treat him as an unknown until he could be certain of the male's identity. He signaled his troops to surround the pair then dropped in front of T-Bone. "Who dares to come before Queen Sorcha," he demanded, his sword pointing at the stranger, his wings rigid with tension.

T-Bone gave him a calm face, his voice was strong and powerful when he announced, "I am Prince Lorcan, recently arrived from my father's world Aristal. I've come to aid my mother, our Queen, and our people in their time of need."

The leader stared hard at this tom with the obvious Fae blade in his paw. Old enough to have known the deceased consort, the captain of the guard could easily see the father in this young stranger. Despite the odd attire and mask, there was no doubt in his mind that this was a Kat from Aristal. And, as if that wasn't enough of a clue, the sword clutched tightly by the male, was the very one the consort had left behind in his home world many years ago. This was, indeed, the missing prince.

Relieved and thrilled, the leader was able to relax his battle stance and offer a proper bow, head low, to the heir apparent, saying with grave respect, "Welcome home Prince Lorcan. I would be honored to escort you to your Queen mother."

T-Bone bowed back. "Thank you. It's good to be home again and I can't wait to see my mother after so long apart." He relaxed a bit, relieved he had been accepted. He heard a soft exhale of relief from his partner behind him.

"Please follow me, your highness." The leader turned and began to walk briskly back the way he'd flown, his soldiers falling into an honor guard formation around the three.

When the group passed through a long corridor carved from the rock, they stepped into yet another larger cavern. Here it looked less like a cave and more like someone had made a huge effort to make it look like an indoor garden and throne room combined.

Obviously, her people, in an effort to bring their lost home with them, had taken everything they could from the palace and put it here. The cavern had been lovingly carved out to resemble a palace of stone but softened by many hanging tapestries and garlands of green. Multicolored flowers grew here and there in planters both on the ground and affixed to the walls. Many large trees were also in huge tubs of soil and their branches soared above their heads providing a leafy canopy.

Truly, a forest had been successfully transplanted within this cave. Everywhere, elaborate fountains portraying Fae life had been sculpted and placed here and there around the hall. The tinkling of water as it splashed from the fountains, made a soothing sound, taking the dreariness out of being forced to live in a cave. And to provide enough light for all, an artificial sun made of magical energy had been placed high in the ceiling, but that was clearly fading with the gradual loss of magic.

As they made their way to a lovingly carved, raised platform of stone that held a throne of natural wood and wreathed in green, they beheld a stunningly beautiful Fae standing before it, waiting for them. On their walk through the cavern, T-Bone and Razor stared around themselves, awestruck by the incredible surroundings and the different types of Fae watching them in turn. In the air above their heads, like so many colorful butterflies, were clouds of caterflies zooming about in mad excitement making Razor look like an owl as he turned his head every which way to study them.

The caterflies were miniature versions of the light Fae but were only a little bigger than a robin from Aristal, in size. Their tiny gossamer wings came in a myriad of colors. They looked like moving clouds of brilliant light as they buzzed the room, their high voices, like tiny bells, filling the air with their excited chatter.

However, despite how incredible everything looked to his eyes, T-Bone's attention was immediately riveted to the one waiting ahead for him. His heart rose to his throat at the sight of his mother, finally, in the flesh, rather than in the medallion.

Razor turned his attention forward and he too stared but for a different reason. He'd never seen such a stunningly beautiful female before. So taken by the Queen, he nearly walked into his buddy's back when the whole group halted. Blushing, he stepped away and took two steps back and to the side from his friend. This was T-Bone's moment not his.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

While she had waited for her guard to return, Queen Sorcha felt nervous and giddy and could barely stand still. But, soon enough the escort she'd sent returned with her people surrounding them as they poured into the throne room. Word had spread quickly of the prince's return and the throne room was filled to capacity with them and their excited voices which exploded into shouts of surprise and confusion when, instead of the prince, a strange pair of aliens strode in surrounded by the Queen's guard.

The two males wore some kind of colorful clothing that appeared to be a uniform of sorts. They both had strange devices strapped to their left arms but one carried a naked Fae sword in his right paw. Her heart leaped . . . Lorcan! He looked so much like her missing love that it tore her heart while at the same time made it fly with joy. Her son had returned! Oh how desperately she wanted to gather him close and feel him against her once more, but she was the Queen and decorum must be maintained. Later, when they were alone, she could allow her motherly needs to be met.

As he approached, she studied, closely, his powerful form and easy grace of movement. Even in Kat form he looked every inch a warrior, much to her relief. Casting her eyes around the room, she noted the same looks of wonder and hope on her subject's faces and keen interest by her unexpected guests. None displayed any disgust that the Prince looked nothing like them, only awe and recognition that the tom did resemble their deceased consort filled their eyes as they stared at his alien form.

The honor guard halted before the Queen. The leader bowed then announced, "My Queen, I bring you one you have hoped so long to see once more...I present his highness, Prince Lorcan."

She nodded gravely back then gestured for him to stand down. "Thank you Captain. Please move so I may see this person for myself," She ordered regally. The leader bowed again then signaled his soldiers to stand aside. They did so leaving the SWAT Kats to face the Queen alone. When the Queen and T-Bone beheld each other fully, they froze and stared, neither speaking as they drank in each others presence after so many long years apart.

T-Bone thought she was simply breathtaking and his heart hurt from missing her. She stood there so regally but he didn't miss the strain the years of war had wrought around her eyes and mouth. She was dressed for battle in something a knight might have worn but was not made of heavy plating. Instead it seemed to be weaved of metal links of some kind of supple material that fit her like a glove. Strapped to her side was a long slim sword. Her long silky blond hair was held by by a small diadem on her head. The family crest adorned the front of her breastplate. Her wings were only half open and were a blend of gold, red, and large orange eyes at its tips. She was breathtaking and every inch a Queen.

"Hello, mother," he breathed reverently, bowing his head to her and not feeling a bit self conscious about doing it.

A radiant smile lit her face as she waved her tiny subjects away. Though reluctant, they did as bid, flying upward then floating above the scene, watching avidly the meeting of the Queen and her long lost son.

"Greetings my son, Prince Lorcan," she said formally. This told all her subjects that she recognized the male as the true Prince. Stepping down from her throne, she walked to him then offered a formal hug.

T-Bone handed his sword to his friend who took it quickly. This action made the Queen's troops relax in relief as it proved he wasn't a threat to their leader though they might have changed their minds if they'd known what the glovetrix was on his arm.

Though T-Bone wanted desperately to give her the greeting of son to mother, he knew instinctively, now wasn't the time...later when they were alone he could indulge his need. But even through the rather formal and stiff hug, his heart sang with joy. Her scent smelled of Springtime and apples and he drew it deeply into his lungs. "It feels so good to finally hold you and know you're real," he whispered for her ears only.

"My son. How much I have missed you, my dearest one. My arms and heart have ached so long for the loss of you," she murmured back. He smelled of strange oils, sandalwood and male musk. His body beneath her paws was strong and well built. Reluctantly, she released him and stepped back. A small frown pulled at her lips as she regarded him.

Concerned, T-Bone asked, hesitantly, "Have I displeased you in some way mother?"

"No, my son. You could never do that but I am perplexed as to why you have covered your face that way," she said, her voice sweet as silver bells.

"Oh...it's simple, mother. My friend and partner, Razor..." he turned and gestured to his friend who nodded his head at the Queen, "... as he is known in this form, and I are fighters against evil in the city you left me in known as Megakat. Because the legitimate law enforcement and us don't agree on how to defend the city, we were forced to become vigilantes and disguise our faces to accomplish our goals of defending our people. We've been doing so for more than six years. In private, we're known as Chance Furlong and Jake Clawson. My name in this costume is T-Bone. Since that secret is unnecessary here, we'll reveal our true faces." At that, T-Bone pulled his mask off with Razor following suit.

Immediately, Queen Sorcha beheld her lost husband's features and beautiful emerald eyes. She couldn't help but say, "so very like your father, Alister, you could nearly be twins." It was hard to swallow the ache of loss seeing that beloved face again, despite how long ago it had been. It was a bittersweet memory but that was then, now she had a war to win. With her son returned to her, she was certain they would succeed this time.

She turned her attention to the other Kat. The slim but strong looking tom had red, long fur and was quite handsome. His warm brown eyes stared at her with awe and a bit of shyness, endearing him to her. Smiling warmly down at him, she said, sincerely, "Well, met Jake Clawson. Glad I am that my son has had the company of such a loyal and good friend." Jake blushed furiously and lowered his eyes.

"He's rather shy around she-kats," Chance added, in a soft undertone, smirking a little. His mother chuckled lightly. "So I see." Then sighing reluctantly, she returned her attention to her people and her duty. "My son, come stand beside me," she commanded.

Chance did so leaving a rather unnerved Jake to stay where he was and wait to see what would happen next.

"My people!" She shouted, her voice ringing with authority and power. Silence fell. Even the caterflies ceased their chattering. "Prince Lorcan has returned. "Please take your true form my son so that all will believe you are Fae as well as Kat and confirm your true identity."

Nodding in obedience, Chance stuffed his mask in a pocket then took his true form. There was a seconds stunned silence then the cheers were renewed. His name was on every lip. "Lorcan ... Lorcan ...!" Their Dark Fae guests were duly impressed and a brief flash of hope flared in Torchere's eyes before becoming flat and cold again.

The Queen let her people rave and cheer for several minutes, they needed this. Meanwhile another familiar person joined the group near the throne. Prince Conall moved to take a stand beside his sister and smiled broadly at his nephew with pride and joy. His friend Alister was clearly stamped upon the young Lorcan's face. He hoped the prince was as good a warrior as his father had been. Looking Chance over, Conall amended that thought,...perhaps he's even better than his father.

Seeing his uncle, Chance smiled in real pleasure. Giving the prince a short bow of his head in respect and speaking quietly, under cover of the noise, he politely said, "It's a pleasure to meet you in person, sir. You have trained me well and I'm pleased to report, that you pronounced me powerful enough magically and physically to fight the Dark King one on one."

A pleased and relieved look crossed Conall's face as he bowed back to the Prince. "If I said it your highness, then it must be so. Welcome home! You are much needed."

"I hope I don't disappoint you, sir," Chance said humbly.

"I doubt you could, nephew."

Their private conversation was interrupted by the Queen. "My people!" Silence fell again. "With Prince Lorcan's strength, training, and science from his world, we will finally end this war. Go prepare for the final battle!" A roar of approval and hope filled the air then everyone scurried off to do whatever tasks they'd been given.

With that done, the Queen gestured for her Dark Fae guests, Jake, her generals, and her brother to follow her. Chance stayed by her side as she made for a side cavern that had apparently been made into a large meeting room. On the wall were hand made maps of Aleria. On a huge oaken table was a diorama style map showing the placement of troops, what sections were held by which armies, supply lines, etc.

When everyone was in the room, the door was closed and guarded. The Queen took the head of the table to stand, gestured for her son to stand beside her, Conall took her other side, her advisers took the left side of the table and their guests the Dark Fae stood on the right and waited. The guard closed the door. Jake took a stance behind his partner.

She turned to her son for a moment, "As much as I desire to hear your exploits and life on Aristal, my son, now is the time to plan our final battle. When we have a private moment, we will talk." Chance just nodded.

While he waited for the Queen to start the briefing, General Tochere studied this lost prince very carefully. The young tom's body fairly thrummed with power so his comment to Prince Conall that he was a match for the Dark King was not an idle one. The prophesy that had so frightened his king was more true than any of them had believed. It seemed Prince Lugus wouldn't be forced to slay his own father after all, since the prophesy said it would be the Prince of Light that would do the deed. Staring at this warrior and feeling his power, Tochere was beginning to believe they would succeed in ending this war. He rather liked their chances now.

"My son, may I introduce General Tochere, one of the top officers of King Gereth's armies," Sorcha formerly introduced the Dark Fae.

"Prince Lorcan," the general said, giving a sharp nod of his head, without emotion or change of expression.

Chance blinked at him in surprise, his mind immediately surmising what this Dark Fae's presence might mean. But to confirm it, he asked, cautiously of his mother, "I take it my arrival was well timed, mother?"

Sorcha sighed inwardly. Her son was showing he wasn't slow on the uptake, much to her relief and the relief of her generals. "Prince Lugus heir to the Dark Throne, has finally admitted to a select group of his father's generals that King Gareth is insane and means to destroy the world. Magic is fading to dangerous levels which is why the prince has sent General Tochere to us with a request for help in taking the Dark King down permanently. We were discussing plans on how to do this with the general when you arrived so suddenly."

"Ahh, I see. And so this is where the prophesy plays out and why my part in it is so important," Chance said, thoughtfully.

"It is indeed, my son. Time to talk tactics and how we insure the prophesy is fulfilled," She agreed with a nod.

"Okay, bring me up to speed on what you discussed," Chance said firmly, then prepared to listen as his mother repeated the briefing.

Jake listened closely. When the time came, he would insure he had a say in the impending attack as well, since he had the weapons they didn't know about that could very well change the course of this war. He just prayed hard his input was enough to keep Chance safe and alive when it was all over.


	23. Chapter 23

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 23: Battle Plans

Chance listened closely as his mother pointed out all the areas on the map that showed where the Dark King's army now occupied, displacing thousands of her people. It was depressing. He had returned just in time to prevent complete annihilation but too late to save all those that had been lost. He cursed the fact that his life was full of being in the nick of time ... both on Aristal and now here in time for the prophesy to be fulfilled.

Though being in time used to be the most exciting part of being a vigilante back home, it no longer held any appeal, especially when it became purely a defensive war they never seemed to win. That was until he came into his inheritance and took the omegas out at last.

But here, on his mother's world, the people were still fighting a defensive war. For Jake and he, it had only been going on seven years when he finally ended it but he simply couldn't wrap his mind around a war lasting a century. He shook his head mentally. To be fair, his mother was faced with impossible odds. The King's army totally overwhelmed the Light Fae's at least 300 to 1. How could she possibly win?

However, he and Jake were used to playing against high odds so though it was on a larger scale, he knew they could make a difference and end this war with the weapons none were familiar with here. So all he had to do was convince a war weary council that he wasn't blowing smoke up their ass.

His thoughts were interrupted by his mother concluding her briefing and possible strategies for ending the war. Glancing over at the Dark Fae, Chance was puzzled by the look of surprise on Tochere's face. Why was that? He was supposedly on the front lines, shouldn't he have been aware of the progress of the war around him and just how much hell it had caused?

So he asked, "Why are you surprised, General Tochere? Weren't you being kept briefed?"... giving the Dark Fae a suspicious stare.

Tochere grimaced, a flash of unhappiness and anger in his red eyes. "I was given all that it was necessary for me to know," he said stiffly. "The King apparently felt I didn't need to know more than that and I had no opportunity to see for myself as I was kept constantly occupied with his endless commands. It was only when Prince Lugus called me to his side that I was finally able to see the whole sordid picture." He didn't specify but Chance guessed what he didn't say ... that this loyal warrior had been appalled and dismayed at the state of his leader's mind.

"That must have been very hard," he murmured sympathetically.

"It ... was sobering. I felt anger that I and my fellow generals were kept in the dark but it was our fault for ignoring the rumors. But who would believe such a thing? Not I! The rumors said the King had been cruelly felled by some kind of mind disease with no cure. It began to manifest in bouts of paranoia and mad schemes for taking over the world but it was so slow that none realized what was going on least of all the prince. But it was he that began to see the signs of madness sooner than us. I only knew that my orders were becoming more strange and confusing as time went on, enough that I grew uneasy but still I didn't question. Our King had insured none questioned his orders ... ever. It was death to do so. He had always been a cruel and harsh King but never sadistic. So when I stood before him days ago, I recognized not the one I knew when I first became a soldier in his army. A stranger sat on the throne with a fell light in his eyes. Only then did I know the rumors were true, that and the terrible devastation I witnessed on my travels to your kingdom," he freely admitted.

"So you had no clue just how torn your world had become?" Chance asked, sadly.

The general's expression was answer enough.

"Which is why I'm just glad I came when I did. I promise I hurried as fast as I could with my training once I learned who and what I was but arriving at the last minute is just something that happens to my friend and I all the time. Why should now be any different," Chance snorted.

"So, what we've brought with us will be what wins the war. You're not that familiar with science since it's not very compatible with magic which is why it will be the single most important thing that will tip the balance for you all now. Yes, I possess full magical powers but it is science that will keep more of our people from being killed. The prophesy says I will kill the King but not how so I'm assuming both my abilities will do it."

"And just how will this science help us?" General Zinar demanded, skeptical. Others of the council also didn't look that hopeful either.

"You heard our jet ... uh ... flying machine that I landed back there in your entry cavern?" Chance asked.

Heads nodded.

"That craft contains weapons that will disable or kill your enemies. Let my friend Jake explain, he's my weapon's officer," Chance said, stepping to one side to expose the smaller tom to the many eyes watching.

Only a little nervous to be under such scrutiny, Jake clung to his expertise to carry him through now. "Right. Uh ... I've loaded the jet with iron dust which I spray over the enemy to cause pain, death, and panic. We used it when we passed through the portal causing the army waiting for us to scramble away. I also utilized sleep gas to prevent any from following us here. The dragons and other flyers that attacked us were repelled by the iron I covered most of the jet's surface in plus explosive charges I shot at them that drove them off." Jake paused when he got many confused looks.

Sighing he continued, "Look it would simply take too long to explain things you have no frame of reference for nor do we have time to demonstrate them now. And even if you insisted on a demonstration, you would only be giving away our only edge against the enemy if anyone saw us. All that's important is to take advantage of the shock and surprise our arrival caused and strike while we still can. You all know that the King has already been informed that something unusual has come through the portal. You can't afford to waste the precious time we've gained you by long discussions now."

"Jake's right. Time is not on our side. We might get lucky that the King may not realize the danger but we can't take that risk. We have but a small window of time to attack with any degree of success. We must strike now!" Chance barked, invoking his Princely powers to push them to agree. His mother felt the magical push and though surprised, she said nothing, smiling inwardly at this show of her son's abilities.

Not allowing anyone to comment, Chance continued, "Here's what I propose . . . Jake and I, aboard our flying machine, will carry a small team of the best warriors with us and take the palace and the King. While we do that . . . Mother, you will do the distraction you and General Tochere have already discussed with one proviso . . . do not close in when we have passed over the field and dropped the iron dust."

"What? Why?" One of her generals objected. "We can't possibly cause enough of a distraction if we are too far away."

"Just how far away are you suggesting, nephew?" Prince Conall interjected at the same time, as he had an idea why his nephew insisted on this action and Chance's answer confirmed that suspicion.

"Because the iron dust will harm and/or kill your people as well as the enemy when it's dispersed. You must stay back so you aren't in its path nor can you charge in when the enemy falls as the dust will still be floating in the air and on the ground."

"But ... but ... then we can never use the land again," a councilor objected angrily.

"Calm yourself. We have a way to 'clean up' the dust but that will have to wait until after the war is won. Just use common sense as to where it's safe and where it isn't by how your enemies react in a given area and keep the enemy from escaping the area we spray," Jake explained.

"Though a bit hampering still it is an excellent strategy, my prince," Prince Conall said approvingly.

"I knew iron was deadly to us but never considered using it as a weapon," General Zinar said, thoughtfully, surprised by this unusual form of defense.

"Of course not as it is just as deadly to you as your enemy so no way would you use it since no one can handle it and not be harmed," Chance said, shrugging. "As Jake said, we also have other more devastating weapons that can do a lot of damage as well as scare the hell out of the enemy by their strangeness."

"It sounds fantastic and a little too good to be true," General Zinar said, still skeptical but resigned to this course of action as he could see the Queen and Prince Conall were fully on the side of this stranger who was supposed to be the heir which he still held some doubt about.

"I'm certain it does but again, that's because you aren't familiar with science. Enough talking! Action is needed now," Chance pressed again.

Looks of dismay and chagrin came over many of the council's faces. All should have remembered that. The Prince was right. They were out of time.

"Though I am worried about our unseemly haste in charging ahead on the say of a lost Prince that we have no personal knowledge on his fighting prowess or magical skills, I'm forced to admit he is correct. If he can do what he says he can, then delaying even another moment will be catastrophic for us all. If the Queen is convinced this is the proper course for us then I will stand by her," General Zinar decided.

Several other generals and some council members still weren't convinced but the Queen rode over their obvious reluctance.

"The prophesy has proclaimed Prince Lorcan will save us and kill the King! His arrival now in our direst time of need already shows the prophesy is real and coming true. Now is the time to arm up and take our world back!" The Queen proclaimed firmly and loudly.

Everyone bowed to her will, no more objections. Pleased by their capitulation, Sorcha turned to her son. "How many warriors do you require, my son and as your uncle had asked but you have not answered yet, how close do we approach before it endangers us?"

Chance turned his head and gave Jake a questioning look.

"I can't say for certain until I check the prevailing winds. That will determine how far the iron dust will drift when we blow it out of the jet. And since it's unlikely anyone here knows how to tell the weather with the accuracy I require, we'll have to take to the air and check it first. That means leaving a communicator with whoever is leading the charge below us," he answered promptly.

Many gave him confused looks but the Queen and Prince Conall had no problem following what Jake had said. They both had spent a lot of time on Aristal. Sorcha, herself, had listened to endless tales by her late husband about his home so was familiar with many of the terms Jake had used.

"I will be leading the charge, Jake, and I'm familiar with some of your strange devices. Merely instruct me on how to use it," she said with confidence.

Jake smiled, relieved that he didn't have to waste any more time. "No problem, ma'am."

She nodded then turned to her generals. "Arm up and meet me at the Iron Forest. I want archers and horsemen with me. General Zinar lead the Giants and the Dwarves and have them flank us but leave two of the largest Giants to provide a blockade behind which my group can fire their arrows. The centaurs will join my horseman for they are excellent with bow and sword. Banshees and hippogriffs will guard the air but make them remain over our army and stay close. I would not have them harmed by the iron dust," she warned. "Finally, have the Jaberwockies guard our rear to prevent any from trying to close in on us."

Jake's eyes widened at the names of some of the creatures the Queen had mentioned. Some were part of kitten fairytales he'd heard when young. Now he knew they were real creatures and he'd be seeing some of them.

"You have your orders, depart and make haste. We will gather in less than half a candlemark," the Queen finished.

The room cleared quickly except for Chance, Jake, Prince Conall, the Queen and the Dark Fae delegation.

Tochere had said nothing during the Queen's rapid fire orders to her people but now he spoke. "My officers need to return to inform Prince Lugus of our plans while I remain. Can you give them safe passage to the border, Queen Sorcha?"

"Yes, of course. Allow me to write a missive for them to give to the Prince. It will add validity to what they relay of what has transpired." Sorcha was given paper and quill by an attentive servant. Taking a seat, she quickly began to write.

"Thank you. In the meantime, where am I to be taken while you are away?" he asked, unhappy he would miss the battle to come but resigned to his part in this alliance.

"Actually, if mother doesn't object, I could use you with me," Chance abruptly interrupted. "Mother, I suggest you tell Prince Lugus to be waiting for us." He turned to Tochere. "Are you very familiar with the palace . . . any secret ways in that you could lead us to and where the Prince can be waiting?"

Tochere's eyes widened then narrowed in thought. He was stunned the Prince would be willing to trust him on so dangerous a mission but quickly recovered. If it got him into battle, he was all for going along with the enemy.

"Yes, I do know of a secret passage into the palace, Prince Lorcan. Taking me is a bold stroke for if I can appear first the guards will be unprepared for you coming in behind me which will give us an edge."

"My thoughts exactly," Chance said, pleased the general was able to divined his plan. He knew the general had been surprised by his choosing to take the Dark Fae along but Chance was used to making snap judgements about people and he felt he could trust Tochere. He wouldn't have risked everything to cross enemy lines and see the Queen if he didn't feel the war was wrong and needed to be ended. "Also, I haven't forgotten that you said, there were many more who objected to the King's rule and would not interfere when we came in and took him down."

"That is true, young prince," Tochere nodded, beginning to gain some respect for this most unusual tom.

"I have no objection my son. The plan has more chance of succeeding now than before you arrived. As to the warriors you wish to take with you, I will notify them and have them meet you at your flying machine," the Queen said, finishing her writing, sanding the ink, then applying a seal of wax with her heraldic symbol on it before handing it off to one of Tochere's officers.

"Conall, send four of my guards with them. Lend them horses to speed them on their way," she said then turned to Tochere's officers. "Fly like the very wind to Prince Lugus as my son's vehicle will get there before you can provide warning. Oh wait, General Tochere you have not said where the Prince should be waiting at," she said quickly before the officers could leave.

"The eastern gate on the lower levels, Queen Sorcha," Tochere responded promptly, directing his order to his officers who nodded understanding then left with Prince Conall.

Chance checked the time on his watch glanced over at his partner and raised a questioning eyebrow. Jake knew what he wanted and directed his next comment to the Queen. "Ma'am, how far is this Iron Forest you need to get to?"

"A quarter candlemark."

"Uh . . . Could you translate into our form of time keeping, please?"

She smiled apologetically. "Pardon, that would be . . . " she thought a moment before coming up with the equivalent. "... about fifteen minutes, I believe. It's below this mountain near the river I showed you on the map."

"Ahh, got it, then how far is it to the Dark King's stronghold?" Jake asked.

"Approximately forty-five minutes by horse," she said promptly, eyeing him questioningly.

Jake was silent for a few moments as he did some figuring in his head. "Okay, that means Chance and I need to wait at least an hour before leaving."

Tochere eyed him in shock. "Why would you delay your departure?"

"Our jet flies so fast, we'd be at the King's palace in less than . . . uh . . . one-eighth of a candlemark."

Now he stared with stunned disbelief. "Are you quite sure you translated that correctly?"

"Yes. That would translate into ten minutes in our time," Jake answered him, firmly.

Tochere shook his head in amazement. "Amazing ... this vehicle of yours must fly like the very wind."

Jake coughed to hide a sudden urge to laugh. "Uh, actually we can fly faster than the wind."

"And this be the machine you are very skilled at flying Prince Lorcan?" the general asked still a bit dazed by this information.

Chance grinned with pride. "Yes I do and it's the most fantastic thing in the world to be above the ground so very high that things below look like ants. We've even been in outer space too."

The Dark Fae made an indescribable sound in his throat. "You are making a jest."

"No, I'm being totally truthful, sir. I have been in the darkness of space and returned."

"But what possessed you to do such an incredible thing?"

Chance's face took on a more serious mien. "An alien tried to steal the water from our world to sell to another alien race for profit. It cared not that it was killing us in the process. We destroyed it and freed the race it had kidnapped to use their ship for the dirty deed. There are other creatures out there beyond our universe as there are dimensions that your people travel through," he assured the warrior who continued to stare at Chance as if he were crazy.

It was his mother's turn to look rather stunned. She was familiar with the wondrous things her son's adoptive people created but this was not something she could have ever imagined. "I must accept what you say is true since there are things in the worlds we travel that we would find unbelievable. Though long lived as I am, I have never encountered such a thing as an alien before."

"Uh, actually, mother you have met aliens species' before," Chance said, amused. His mother raised an eyebrow. "Well, my father's people were alien to you ... so are other species you visited in other dimensions ...yes?"

She blinked at that. "Hmm, you do have a point my son. I must admit, your life sounds quite interesting."

Yeah, it's been that alright. Anyway, Mother, I think you should be hurrying off and I will see you again when this is over," he said, no doubt in his voice. He pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her on the cheek. "We have a lot of catching up to do," he murmured before releasing her and stepping away.

"We do indeed my son. Good luck all of you. May the Goddess watch over and return you to my side." She turned away but paused before she'd taken more than four steps. "Jake you need to give me that talkie thing and show me how to use it," she reminded him.

Jake blushed in embarrassment that he'd allowed himself to be distracted and forgot she needed the communicator. He quickly rectified that mistake, handing her the communicator and giving her quick instructions. She repeated them flawlessly back at him then nodded and put it in a safe place within her armor. With a final smile and a wave, she and her guards hurried off.

With a sharp pang in his chest, Chance watched her leave. Jake said nothing except to pat his friend on the back, showing sympathy, then headed off toward the archway they'd come through.

"Let's be off, general," Chance said, sighing.

General Tochere said nothing as he followed close behind the pair, his mind whirling with all the strange things he'd heard over the last few candlemarks. This vehicle must be truly amazing, he thought. He wasn't so sure he wanted to ride in it at all but he would not shame himself by showing fear now.


	24. Chapter 24

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 24: A Quick and Dirty Battle

The sound of voices greeted the three when they came to the end of the tunnel that lead to where the Turbokat waited. A small group of six Fae warriors stood or flew around the jet, studying it from all angles but didn't get too close as they could feel the iron coating it. It was obvious they were eaten up with curiosity and not a little fear.

Smiling a little to himself, Jake deactivated the security system and signaled the cargo door and cockpit to open. The Fae eyed it leerily before approaching with great caution.

"I promise, there is no iron within or near the door so you won't be harmed. Just don't touch or get near the outer skin of our jet," Jake warned them as he led the way into the cargo hold.

Still nervous, the Queen's soldiers and Tochere walked up the ramp and entered this strange new world. Chance followed behind them then signaled the door to close causing Tochere flinch in fear which he quickly hid.

"I thought you said you had to wait a candlemark?"

"That's right but Jake or Razor as he's called when we're fighting as a team, told you he needed to take readings before he dared to drop the iron dust, remember?"

"Aye."

"We need to take to the air to do that so we'll fly high enough none can see or hear us and as we do so he can take his readings. All you need to do is relax and enjoy the ride. And for your information, I'm called T-Bone when I'm in my masked outfit and Prince Lorcan when I look like you, just so you know what to call me and when," Chance said, allowing his appearance to return to his T-Bone persona as wings were impossible to fit into his pilot seat.

Before leaving he and Jake, now Razor with his mask back in place, showed the soldiers where and how to sit in the flip down seats then aided each in buckling in. It wasn't comfortable for them because of the wings but no one complained.

To prevent them from panicking when the engines were started, the liftoff, and flight itself, T-Bone gave them a quick briefing.

"The first thing you'll feel and hear is a deep thrumming beneath your feet then a lifting sensation stronger than the one you feel when you flap your wings. It will press you into your seat...hard. The engines you heard will be loud but not as noisy inside as outside it. When we get in the air, the sensation of being pulled down will change to your back being pressed against the seat. The change in altitude and speed could make you feel a bit upset in your stomach. Yes, I know you're used to flying but not at the speeds we'll be doing. This is the only reason I'm telling you all this so you won't be alarmed. You're all soldiers used to danger but it's no shame to be afraid of something outside your experiences. Now, if there's no questions we'll take off."

No one said anything though there were quite a few nervous eye flicks in a few faces, he noted, as he stared at each in turn. Nodding, T-Bone climbed up into the cockpit and began preflight procedures.

Beneath the passengers, they could feel the deep thrumming the Prince had warned them of. Nearly all were gripping their seats or straps tightly, eyes round and bodies tense as the huge machine surrounding them began to rumble beneath them and the noise of its engines got louder. Then it lifted from the ground with relative ease.

"They're going to freaked, buddy, no matter how prepared you tried to make them," Razor observed as he activated his weapon's board and monitored the radar as T-Bone slowly applied power to raise the jet upward on VTOL.

"They'll handle it or be shamed and none of them will allow that to happen," his partner assured him. Using the air jets, he eased them out of the cave without scraping the wingtips. In clear air, he switched from VTOL to the engines and set a course for the upper stratosphere.

The sky was a dingy color of muddy greens and oranges with patches of darkness here and there. It was disgusting and hard to see through. His lips pursed together grimly, T-Bone kept headed the nose of the jet upward for more than fifteen minutes.

As they passed through the different levels of sky, Razor took readings then finally they broke through into the higher altitudes where they were stunned by the brilliant azure sky that was clean and unmarred by the sickness below them. Only white streaks of clouds could be seen and over all was the warm sunshine shining down on them with a more intense yellow color than Megakat City boasted.

"Wow! It's beautiful up here. This must be what this world normally looks like," Razor observed.

"Yes. It's exactly like what I saw in the amulet," T-Bone sighed, the sight making feel more invigorated and optimistic. "Too bad we can't just blow off the scummy air below us," he said wistfully.

"I would think with the powers you and your mother possess you could use magic to do that," Razor hazarded.

"Hmm, I don't know. Won't be able to test that theory until we break the spell the Dark King has over the world right now."

"Oh, guess you're right. Well, that's the best incentive I know of to take this guy down," his partner growled.

"Definitely."

Silence fell for a while as T-Bone cruised along while his partner worked.

"Hey buddy, since we can't drop into the Dark King's palace just yet, there's no reason we can't fly just go ahead and fly there but stay at our high altitude position until it's time to attack. I only need a few minutes to determine wind speed when we get into position."

"I've been going that direction already, Razor. Should I increase our speed?"

"Nah, were going at a fair clip already that will still get us there early so keep it cut back. Don't want to get there before your mother. Nice to see you're thinking ahead instead of waiting on me, buddy," Razor said, teasing his friend.

"Thank my uncle for that. He told me I was too impulsive and needed to take more time to think before acting. He spent a lot of time pounding that into me," T-Bone said ruefully.

"Yeah, I definitely noticed that when you took out Dark Kat. I like it and that attitude adjustment will make working with Feral much calmer, I think," Razor commented then asked more hesitantly. "That's if you intend to return home with me, that is." This was his greatest worry. He didn't know what he would do if Chance decided to stay behind.

His partner was silent for a bit before finally answering. "I've been giving that a lot of thought buddy. Though this place is fantastic and all, I'm not sure I'd be happy here. It's great to see my mother and be able to be my true self but when this war is over she can visit me but I most likely won't visit her because of the drastic time difference. However, since I will live a lot longer than you, down the road I just might go home to stay as I couldn't bear to see all I know die and leave me behind," he said honestly.

Razor relaxed and sighed with relief. "And I wouldn't want you to buddy. All I want is for you to be happy."

"Then happy for me will be Megakat City though I know my mother won't be happy about that."

"No mother would be but she's been without you for a very long time. I have a feeling she'll handle it well," Razor said comfortingly.

"Yeah, true." Silence fell again as they cruised the warm, sunny sky to their destination. Within the cargo hold the soldiers were trying their best to remain calm and get some rest before their energies would be needed for the battle to come but it was proving rather difficult as none of them were able to get used to this nerve-wracking form of flight.

Tochere was rather glad they couldn't see out as he thought that might make handling this trip even harder to bear.

Though it only seemed a long time, finally the flight did end and Razor had all the data he needed.

"Time to rock and roll, buddy!" He warned his partner.

"Not until I hear from my mother, Razor," T-Bone reminded his partner. And luckily his dashcom lit up at that moment. "Huh! You and your uncanny timing!" He reached to answer it as his friend snickered.

"Son?"

"I hear you mother. You in place?"

"We are. We have spread out in a thin line along where the Dark King's army has stopped to rest," she reported then her voice dropped to a more worried tone. "Lorcan...there are so many of them. Even my reports did not do justice to the sheer size of his army."

"Don't worry mother. With them so close together and in one place like this, that just means we'll take many more of them out in one fell swoop. Please take the precautions we warned you to do. We're just above you and will commence our strafing run in five minutes."

"I hear you, son and will be ready. Good luck to thee!"

"And to you mother." T-Bone cut the connection, his face grim. "Alright buddy, time to take out the trash."

"Roger!"

T-Bone tipped the nose of the jet downward and prepared to strafe the field from left to right then toward the far mountains where the Dark King's castle perched among the rocky crags. It would take them more than fifteen minutes to reach that location when they were ready to tackle the King himself so they needed to be finished here as quick as they could.

It took only the promised five minutes for them to break through the clouds and plunge down into darkness again. Razor was prepared for it to be dark like when they entered this realm so had the nosecone light already lit lighting their way and blinding those dark fae below them that were sensitive to it.

The army below stared up at them in stunned surprise and Razor used that to his advantage. As his partner began his run, the weapon's officer fired a mixture of gas grenades, iron dust laden missiles that sprayed their contents extensively, and flashbulb missiles to rout and terrify the army.

It was more successful than Razor could have hoped as his instruments told him the army was dying, unconscious, or running but none coming up to attack them.

Below, the Queen's army watched in amazement and fear as their enemy went mad with fear and pain; fear from choking to death on gas or turning to ash from the iron dust. The stronger ones were driven off by the gas and the too brilliant light, heading to their dark hills for safety and away from the Queen's lands. The huge dark army lay in total disarray. It was a better result than they could have dreamed. However, as her son had warned, there were a few causalities among her own troops from friendly fire but not many, thankfully.

For a straight twenty minutes, death stalked the land as scores of the enemy met their end, fell unconscious, or ran off. As he flew a grid pattern over the dark army, T-Bone was appalled at just large it was. If he'd not returned in time, his mother's forces would have been overrun.

"We're done, T-Bone. Time for the last stage of this operation." Razor broke into his friend's thoughts.

"Roger!" The pilot flew the jet toward the mountains and called his mother's com unit. A roar of sound greeted him causing him to wince. "Mother?" T-Bone shouted.

"Son! They're dying by the thousands and any that have tried to run toward us have been picked off. You have done well. But be careful on your final mission. Do not get yourself killed by over confidence or carelessness," she warned, shouting to be heard.

"I'll keep my head about me, mother, promise. But you be careful too. See you later!" He cut the comm and concentrated on getting to the castle as fast as he could. He knew the King should have been already notified that something odd had gone on so they had to reach him before he could figure out a counterstrike. As he flew, he activated the intercom to the cargo hold. "We've been victorious against the dark king's army now we beard the leader in his own den. We'll be at the castle shortly, be ready!"

Tochere and the other fae startled at the sudden sound of the prince's voice seemingly coming from the walls but what the prince said banished their fear and made them cheer.

Tochere was heartened by the news that the war was nearly over but reserved any true celebration for after they'd taken the King and he had a chance to check the battlefield. His leader had been on the throne for centuries and was not someone that could be taken that easily however, since his mental faculties were seriously questionable, perhaps the old lion would be no true threat.

He shook his head. No, I won't count on that, it just might have made the King even more dangerous. Wait and see and hope that this bright light from another world will be successful only then will I be willing to join the celebration, he thought. He gripped his sword tightly and readied himself for the final battle.


	25. Chapter 25

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 25: The King is Dead; Long Live the King

With the dead, dying, and unconscious enemy beneath it, the Turbokat sped quickly toward the distant mountains of the Dark King.

Silence filled the cockpit as T-Bone flew the jet and focused on the battle to come. He was nervous. This would be his first battle using magic. Though he fully intended to use his modern weapons too, he knew part of the battle would be conducted with the skills he'd recently worked hard to learn but he was still not the equal of someone who had centuries of training and battle skill behind them. So his only advantage was to charge in, using the element of surprise and shock to give it to him.

That shouldn't be too hard as Razor and I have used that method as SWAT Kats for years now. It's our modus operandi and perfect for just this sort of thing, he thought with a grim smile.

His partner was equally tense and nervous but for very different reasons. As Razor kept a close eye out for any flying enemy and checked the number of weapons he still had left in his armory, he allowed a part of his mind to go over their plans for this next phase. For the first time since he and T-Bone became a team, Razor wouldn't be allowed to stand at his partner's side fighting the bad guys as they'd always done. He'd been told, in no uncertain terms by the Queen, that T-Bone must face the King alone. All Razor was permitted to do was be a part of the team that kept the King's guards off the Prince. He didn't like that one bit.

Though he knew the prophecy said T-Bone would triumph, he just didn't have as much faith in something so nebulous...hard facts were his forte but here he was having to take a back seat and let his best friend confront an enemy far worse than the Pastmaster ever could be. That just wasn't right. He was his partner's shadow...his backup...his right paw...damn it! He fumed impotently. But it did no good getting angry about it. He had to hope the combination of magic and science would tilt the battle toward the tabby's favor and end this thing once and for all.

Razor mentally shook off his gloomy thoughts. He used his time more wisely in rechecking his glovatrix, insuring it was fully loaded (though he'd done that several times already) and tried to ease the case of nerves he was feeling. Suddenly, he felt the sensation of the jet losing altitude. Looking out the window, he could see the jet was closing in on the huge dark mountains rising ominously before them just a few miles ahead.

"Where do I land, buddy?" T-Bone's voice abruptly broke the silence.

Blushing at his momentary lack of attention, Razor blurted, "Just a sec..." and quickly scanned the rapidly approaching target. "Ahead...four o'clock position...northeast quadrant, over that sharp edged outcropping is a fairly flat plateau that the jet will just fit."

"Roger." T-Bone's eyes narrowed as he slowed their approach, going to VTOL when they were nearly on top of the indicated area.

Both were silent and tense as the jet floated closer, passing over the saw-toothed ridge, the nosecone beacon lighting up a flat area of grey stone that looked like something had come along and scrapped this part of the mountain away. Surrounding this small area were tall, spiny-like rock formations.

With infinite care, T-Bone guided the jet forward until it was directly over the small smooth patch, the repellers blew clouds of dust into the air, nearly obscuring the pilot's view. It was very tight but T-Bone managed to land the jet with expert ease, putting the Turbokat in the exact center with plenty of clearance all around it.

While the jet was maneuvering, Razor used the time to scan the surrounding area to determine how far they were from the castle proper that was half buried within the mountain's face. Moments later he found their target and, fortunately, they were only a mile away from its main entrance. Further probing uncovered the lower chambers and tunnels, magically carved through the rock that the general had told them about, ranging in all directions with one tunnel coming out less than ten feet from their landing spot.

Perfect! Looks like General Tochere wasn't setting a trap for us after all. Further proof just how bad things have gotten for him to turn on his leader like this, Razor mused as he prepared to disembark. Just hope we can get inside as easily as we managed to arrive without being seen.

The canopy remained closed as the SWAT Kats opted to exit through the cargo area. The smaller tom was the first to leave his seat and drop down lightly into the hold followed close behind by the heavier sounding thud of his partner.

"We're here. Now it's your turn to do your part General Tochere," T-Bone said as he aided the fae warriors out of their restraint straps. Razor doing the same beside him.

"I'm ready," Tochere said only a little shaky as he got to his feet, surprised at how unsteady he felt at first.

T-Bone only nodded then allowed his true form to appear with some new additions to his attire. Wearing light weight chain mail of gold that covered him from shoulders to feet, his mother's symbol emblazoned in deep blue over his chest, and black boots that came to his knees. The sword he'd taken from the museum was in a new sheath attached to a heavy leather belt. Added to this was his glovatrix and a modern utility belt that carried his additional weapons and ammo.

Razor thought his partner looked really weird with the wings, gold armor and sword, mixed with the modern weaponry but made no comment as he signaled the cargo door to open. They all filed out then the door closed up behind them leaving them in the dark. The smaller tom was about to turn on his helmet light when suddenly a soft ambient glow suddenly lit the corridor before them.

Blinking in surprise, Razor realized T-Bone or one of the others had made a floating globe of magical energy to light their way. Huh...handy skill, he thought.

Tochere pushed ahead of the group and led them away from the jet. At first, there wasn't any sign of a passageway through the spiny wall that surrounded this smooth area until one got closer to the wall. Blending in very well, was a narrow rock path. It only looked like it was part of the wall.

They had to walk single file for the ten feet Razor had found led to an entry point. Just as they apparently reached the end, Tochere held up a palm then made a gesture that told them to wait here.

He walked ahead and T-Bone, who had been behind him, saw the path opened into a small ledge. To the left was a drop off, to the right a blank, rough wall, just like any mountain face. Frowning, he watched as Tochere walked to about the center of the rock face and raised a paw and simply knocked once then waited.

What? No secret signal knock? T-Bone thought, bemused. Apparently not as he watched a section of wall open inward only seconds later. No light shone from within so only Tochere's floating globe allowed T-Bone to see it was a Hoblin standing in the doorway. The creature's ebony body allowed it to blend in the darkness, making it invisible except for the gleaming sword clenched tightly in its massive paw.

It glowing red eyes stared at the visitor a moment then bowed its head and stepped back after recognizing who dared to come through this entrance. "General Tochere...you are not expected, sir," it rumbled like two rocks being ground together.

"I know that was the idea," Tochere said before blasting the guard with a burst of combat magic. The hoblin was ill prepared for such an abrupt attack and was quickly blown back off its feet with a smoking hole in its chest.

T-Bone blinked a little in shock at the sudden violence but hid it well. His uncle had taught him much but this spell was not one of them. He gained an enormous respect for the general in that moment.

Tochere turned to them, his expression grim, as he gestured for them to quickly enter. Leading the way, T-Bone didn't hesitate as he quickly strode forward and past the dark fae. As soon as all of them were inside, the general sealed the opening with a gesture.

Neat trick, Razor thought then looked down the corridor they'd entered. It was empty and narrow, their single magical globe being their only light. The floor and walls was rock that had been so smoothly carved it reflected like a mirror.

The general pushed through them then lead the way. They walked in silence for some ten minutes before reaching another door. "Wait here. I will see if its clear. When I return, fall into a single line and move silently." Saying nothing more, he opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind them. All the rest could do was wait.

Though it felt like a long time had passed, in reality it had been barely five minutes when the general reappeared. He was a bit disheveled, his sword was naked in his paw and dripping something that was also on his paw and clothing. Razor realized it was blood of some kind though it wasn't the normal red he was used to seeing.

"The way is clear. We must hurry. I could hear the King's roar of anger from the throne room."

"Must have heard what happened to his army," T-Bone muttered, smirking a little.

"No doubt," Tochere replied drily then turned to head back out the door.

With T-Bone directly behind him, the general lead the group down a gleaming narrow hall of black marble where here and there a dead body lay sprawled, their strange green blood painting the walls.

Grimacing, Razor kept his eyes straight ahead. Bloodshed was never part of the SWAT Kats battle against crime so this was a bit hard for him to take but didn't deter him from his mission.

As they pushed deeper into the castle, a powerful voice was heard shouting in full fury, the power of it shaking the walls. Tensing up for what was to come, the group finally halted beside another door, one that was rather plain. This was a door opened directly behind the throne in the main hall, one Tochere said the King used to escape his court and be alone which explained why it was barely manned.

The door shook with the sound of another roar, no words could be made out. Waving the group out of view of the door opening, Tochere waited until all were in place before opening it and peering cautiously within.

The King was berating two unlucky messengers who were groveling at his feet and hoping they wouldn't end up like the other pair that lay dead to one side of the throne, tossed there like an afterthought and not removed.

This told Tochere just how far his King had fallen into his madness. Being extremely fastidious, King Gareth hated any untidiness even that which he caused so dead bodies not removed was a very bad sign. It meant the servants were more terrified of the King's possible reaction to their presence than his temper at the room remaining dirty. He could hardly blame them.

The King stood with both paws raised, glowing with power and eyes glowing redly with a mad light in them. All form of control was gone. It hurt to see the once proud, cold, and powerful leader reduced to a thing of deadly fury and no intelligence behind it. He was totally unrecognizable as was the damage Tochere could see in the room.

Two walls bore huge holes, the debris covering the once pristine black marble floor that added to the bloody bodies, broken furniture, ripped banners, and overturned urns of coals that used to light the throne room with an eery glow. Amidst this mess the King stood screaming curses and threatening to kill everyone.

Tochere's quick glance around the room noted the ten guards standing at attention set ten feet apart going around the room. Their eyes stayed glued straight ahead, bodies rigid and unmoving least their maddened King see them and decide to use them for target practice. One unlucky guard had already been struck down, wounded and laying on the floor amidst the blown wall fragments that had hurt him. But he too dared not move. Looking past the King, the general spotted the heir. The young fae stood white faced and tense beside the throne. So far he hadn't been harmed.

Prince Lugus eyes roved nervously around the room, landing on General Tochere eyes staring at him intently. He stood peering around the curtain that hid the door behind the throne. A look of relief flashed in his eyes then hardened as he gave a tiny nod of his head. Time to end the madness.

Tochere nodded back then stepped back behind the curtain and signaled the others to fan out quickly. Once everyone but himself, Razor, and Prince Lorcan were left, Tochere prepared to keep all away from the Prince so the final battle could be fought unimpeded.

Wasting no more time, T-Bone stepped forward, his paw with the glovatrix extended, halting when he had come level with the King's right side.

"KING GARETH!" He shouted, using magic to magnify his voice.

The dark king whirled startled and T-Bone used that moment to launch his attack. He immediately fired an explosive missile that slapped the fae in the chest and drove him backward into his throne then exploded. Anyone else would have been instantly torn apart but T-Bone knew that wouldn't be true of his powerful enemy. Magic protected the monarch.

Stunned he might be, but Gareth wasn't seriously harmed though the walls and his throne had been blown to bits. However, the attack achieved T-Bone's first objective...disorient the King with weapons he wasn't familiar with and keep him off balance.

Around him, Tochere, Razor, and the Queen's assassins fought the King's guards. He ignored that, not daring to see if his partner was alright. His full attention was on the King who was just getting to his feet, eyes gleaming with madness.

Gareth's mouth opened but T-Bone's tarpedo stopped whatever spell was about to be issued forcing the King to use his hands to clear the tarry substance which, of course, caused them to stick to it as well. That should have halted him but his madness gave him unholy strength and he managed to wrench his paws away then using magic to clear his face but while he was so occupied, T-Bone fired the first of his magical spells.

The King was once more knocked off his feet but he recovered quickly and fired a salvo of spells back at T-Bone. Raising a spell shield, T-Bone was able to keep from being killed as he sent a volley of his own back.

For fifteen intense minutes, each Fae warrior tried their best to break through the other shields. T-Bone's brow was thoroughly sweaty making his mask stick to his face uncomfortably. The King's strength driven by his madness was formidable and only T-Bone's youth gave him any kind of edge. In this contest, the King was definitely far beyond the level the Prince was and it was that which was beginning to succeed in thinning T-Bone's shield. The tabby knew he had to do something before one of those deadly spells broke through.

The two of them had managed to close the gap between them, making their shields glow white hot as they stood only ten feet apart. T-Bone had to break this deadlock before the King's constant pounding destroyed his shield. As he tried various spells he'd been taught, looking for any weakness, his partner was about to break the Queen's order.

The King's guard had been taken out with no casualties on the Queen's side. To ensure no one tried to come to the King's defense, Tochere had cast a spell on the only two entries to the throne room. Until a stronger force could be mounted to batter their way in, the King's soldiers weren't getting in. Just in case, the Queen's soldiers split up and guarded the doors. That left Razor, Prince Lugus and Tochere to simply stand and watch the deadly battle. Prince Lugus had erected shields around all those watching, keeping them from the powerful spells flying everywhere.

"They are more evenly matched than I would have dreamed," Prince Lugus muttered tightly.

"Aye, your highness. As young and inexperienced as Prince Lorcan is with using magic, I too am amazed at his strength and courage. However, I fear that won't be enough. Already his shields are beginning to thin out," Tochere responded, concern lacing his deep voice.

Razor's fists were clenched tight with tension and fear. Hearing the general warn that T-Bone's shields were about to go made him mutter, "Not if I have anything to do about it. Sorry T-Bone but I'm not about to lose you." He raised his glovatrix, selected a special missile then snapped at the Prince, "Make a hole in your shield!"

Prince Lugus started in surprise, his head turning sharply to the left to stare at these strange creature holding an even stranger weapon up. "What are you..." He began to demand before Razor interrupted him.

"No time...do it!"

Something in the small odd warriors manner convinced the Prince it would be wise to obey. Turning back to face the room, he muttered a spell that opened a hole in front of Razor's weapon.

Razor fired and a small missile flew straight and true hitting the King's shield at chest level. It was a drill-bit missile that shouldn't have been able to penetrate the magical shield except Razor had added something extra to it...an iron bit. The result was the missile drilling through the shield like butter and striking the shocked King in the chest. It nearly cut through his gold-like chest plate but was stopped by a quickly shouted spell from doing more than cutting the King's chest, drawing a small amount of blood.

"FIRST BLOOD!" The Queen's soldiers shouted.

The King's expression was a combination of shock and fury but before he could gather his wits and regain his balance, T-Bone fired a killing spell through the hole before the Gareth could close it. The King's mouth was open in an 'O' before he disintegrated into dust. Stunned silence followed as everyone stared at the space where the King of the Dark Fae had stood. Nothing remained but the missile laying inert on the floor, blood on its drill bit.

T-Bone sagged in relief and exhaustion. Turning his head toward his partner, he said, "Just couldn't stay out of it, eh?"

A smile of relief that morphed into a smirk lit Razor's face. "Hell no! We're a team! I'm just glad you didn't hesitate," He said smugly.

His best friend shook his head. "Can't break a habit, buddy and, yeah, we're a team, now and always."T-Bone's smile widened.

Prince Lugus gaped at the small warrior in shocked amazement then shifted his gaze to his fellow Prince. "I can't believe it! You beat him with your strange weaponry and a single simply spell. Unbelievable!" He said, dazed. His mind couldn't seem to reconcile what he'd witnessed. Still shaking his head, he walked toward T-Bone and looked down at the strange device on the floor then up at T-Bone's face. "Wherever you'd been all these years has made you a most formidable foe, Prince Lorcan. I am glad it was on our side. Thank you for saving what is left of my Kingdom," He said humbly, bowing his head.

"You're welcome, Prince Lugus. I don't envy you all the work it will take to restore your Kingdom but I'm glad the war is ended so that you may get started doing it. I hope you take a slightly different path than your father so there can be peace between our lands," T-Bone said, a hint of a question in his voice.

"How can there be light if there is no darkness," Prince now King Lugus said archly. "But I will promise for a time our lands will be at peace...in the distant future...who knows," he shrugged casually.

T-Bone snorted and rolled his eyes though he knew the King couldn't see him doing that little disrespect. "Guess that will have to do. Oh, we had to use iron against your army. I'm afraid a great many of them are gone or injured and the land where they lay is deadly to all Fae. To cleanse it, we will remove the iron so I strongly urge no one to trespass there for about..." He paused to ask his partner a question. Razor had walked up and was now standing on T-Bone's left side. "How long will it take to remove the iron, Razor?"

Razor frowned a moment in thought. "About an hour or one full candlemark."

Turning back to King Lugus who looked confused and getting a little angry, T-Bone told him easily, "You heard him, only about a candlemark to cleanse it. Perhaps another past that to be absolutely certain."

"How came you to cover my land with cold iron?" the King demanded, curiosity getting the better of him.

T-Bone merely smiled wolfishly. "That's my secret and one we can use again and again if there's any future problems that require it."

King Lugus paled a little, his eyes flashing with anger at the veiled threat. His lips were tight when he answered civilly enough, "My father underestimated the threat you would be but I will not. You have safe passage back to your kingdom, Prince Lorcan. I suggest you leave immediately, complete your task, and never return here again."

"I'll leave. As for returning, well, that's up to you isn't it?" T-Bone said pointedly then gave the King a respectful nod which surprised Lugus before turning away with his partner on his heels, heading for the door they'd used to get in here.

In the corridor beyond, Tochere halted them a moment. "I wish to convey my thanks for ending this so quickly. I hope we do not meet in battle for the foreseeable future," he said, reaching out to shake T-Bone's paw.

"You're welcome, general and I hope we never do either." T-Bone shook the Fae's paw then hurried away. The general didn't linger, closing the door firmly behind him and returning to his King.

Making a hasty retreat, T-Bone, Razor, and the Queen's soldiers ran down the corridor, out the still unguarded door and out into the dark night. T-Bone created another magical globe to light their way as they hurried toward the jet. In very little time they boarded and were lifting off within minutes. Time to clean up and return to his mother's kingdom.


	26. Chapter 26

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 26: The Pastmaster Comes Calling

While the SWAT Kats were making their stand, back in Megakat City things were remarkably quiet. The pair had been gone almost two months so far, but Callie held out hope they would be back before the year ended. Feral wasn't so sure but kept that to himself.

The two of them had agreed between them to do a magical inspection of the 'portal area', as they were the only ones who could detect it opening. At first they did this every day but as time stretched on with no sign of trouble that became once a week then what it was now, every two weeks.

The peaceful period allowed Feral to get much need training done on newly graduated Enforcers. They were badly undermanned and he needed new blood injected into the ranks as fast as possible but the constant battles with the omegas and this more recent one from another dimension, kept them chronically behind. This breathing space was very welcome.

Except for monitoring the park, Feral very rarely used his new magical powers though he'd been warned that once awakened it couldn't be ignored or it would end up using him. But despite that very real fear, he still loathed using it.

On one recent patrol, he voiced his annoyance to Callie. They usually talked shop on these walks which had the advantage of bringing them closer together and mended a lot of the irritations they had with each other over the years. Though they wouldn't admit it openly, they had become friends rather than just combative colleagues who worked for the city.

"I know we're supposed to use our magic at every opportunity so it doesn't build up within us, Callie, but I just can't bring myself to do it at work and barely do it at home. I don't want my Enforcers becoming afraid of me. Respect I have, fear I can do without," he told her with some concern. "It's bad enough dealing with all the weird stuff they have to but having their leader do some of that stuff too could cause dissension.

"Hmm, well I can see your point but unfortunately, you really don't have a choice. You can do magic without making it obvious you know. I use it to sort files, bring me files, even write up reports when my secretary is too snowed under. It has made my working life much easier and the biggest benefit is getting off on time," Callie remarked.

Feral snorted in amusement at that then sighed. "You have a point. It would save me a great deal of time sorting through all those reports. It just makes me uncomfortable is all."

"I can sympathize but having used it more regularly than you, I'm getting used to it finally. Actually, I'm finding it rather handy...even practical in my personal life. When my car broke down I was able to fix it with magic. And when the elevator was out in my apartment building and I was too laden with groceries to climb the stairs, it was a godsend," she said, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Huh, I never even considered such things but I could imagine it being very useful to you. However, you're right, I do need to find more ways to use it and just do it rather than find reasons not to," he sighed. "But I still won't like it much."

She smiled and gave him a pat on the arm in commiseration. Unlike him, though, she was finding magic to be extremely useful. She thought it might just be because he was male and she was female. Too often females needed assistance with a great many things. Being able to do it herself with magic gave her an unexpected feeling of freedom. He had no need of such assistance usually, hence his reluctance to use magic for anything much. Unfortunately, he had to get over that or his magic would become a danger to them all. A thought came to her...

"You know, Ulysses, perhaps we should start sparring with each other. Though I'm using magic, I'm not staying combat ready and, I strongly suspect, neither are you," she said thoughtfully, voicing a real concern.

His eyebrows rose then lowered in consternation. "You're right and I can't believe I failed to realize that. Obviously, I must have a strong aversion to using magic for me to fail to remember that considering what I do for a living," he said, chagrined.

Callie chuckled lightly. "Well if we do some weekly sparring that should take care of getting you over that."

"A sound idea but how do we make our schedules accommodate it?" He asked, his eyes roving the area they were walking through that had a large stand of pine trees in it.

"Sparring will drain us but if we limit it to...let's see...our patrol takes us thirty minutes, add thirty more minutes for sparring... yes that could be one of the times we can practice. Saturdays for an hour and perhaps an hour during the week, around six at night, perhaps?" She suggested, turning her head to see what he thought of that.

The big tom's eyes never stopped looking around but his expression showed her he was thinking about what she'd said. "That should work." He halted suddenly making her stop as well.

She noticed they were nearly finished with there patrol and had reached the meadow that was behind the portal location.

"How about be begin now and here is an excellent area to do it in too?" He asked.

"Works for me."

"Okay, then I'll go to the edge there and you wait here." Putting words to action, he walked until he reached the area he'd indicated then turned and faced her.

First they put up a protective shield so no innocent walking by could accidentally wander into their practice area. That took about ten minutes as they were still rather green at it which also proved Callie's point. That was really not good.

With the shield up, Callie got off the first volley of spells before Feral was quite ready. Grunting, he was glad she had opted for only light spells first. He shook himself out and erected his personal shield.

For the next thirty minutes they cast spell after spell at each other until sweat rolled down their faces and errors began to be made. Callie just missed getting clipped by a nasty hex by Feral but she managed to actually take Feral's feet from under him with a binding spell that hobbled an enemy's feet. That effectively ended the session as she walked toward him and removed the spell. He rolled to his feet looking both annoyed and chagrined.

"You were right. I am out of practice. You shouldn't have been able to get through my shield that easily," he said ruefully.

"It wasn't easy and I suspect you were just getting too tired which gave me a lucky opening."

"There is no such thing as luck," Feral quoted Prince Conal's favorite saying.

She grimaced at him sourly. "I'd like to think there is, so stop quoting that darn homily at me," she said tartly.

He smirked and shrugged his broad shoulders. "Hey, it's true, at least most of the time."

"I don't care," she snorted, petulantly. He wisely let it slide knowing she was just feeling tired and sweaty and hating it when she still had work to do in her office.

"Thank you for the work out, though, Callie. It proved to me how important it is to keep magically fit," he admitted, sheepishly.

She gave him a wane smile, "You're welcome and here's where magic is truly handy..." she passed a paw down her body and was immediately refreshed as if she'd just taken a shower, her clothing was neat and pressed as well.

Feral shook his head but gave in and did the same. "Okay, I concede it definitely has it's advantages. Let's get back to work."

She smirked and headed out of the park to where they had parked their vehicles.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Feral and Briggs fell into an easy practice habit and improved quickly which was a good thing as the Pastmaster finally made an appearance some two months later.

It was a crisp fall day and a couple hours after lunch on a Tuesday when there came an urgent call from the guard unit at the park. Feral's radio toned from the corner of his desk. He absently reached for it and said his name.

"Feral!"

"Commander, a tempest portal has formed in the sky!" Dispatch told him, voice tight with fear and worry.

"On my way!" Feral barked. He rose quickly and went to pull his coat on. He was about to head out the door when he paused. Wait, dispatch said tempest portal...the Pastmaster! I need Callie and we need to get there now and faster than a chopper, he thought, quickly picturing the deputy mayor's office.

He appeared near the window and in front of her desk. A shout of alarm and fear told him the mayor was in the room as well. The fat kat gaped at the big tom before his expression turned to one of irritation and anger.

"Feral! We use doors here not pop in and out wily-nily..." he began to rage.

"Stuff it mayor. Callie, the Pastmaster has dropped in and I felt we needed to get there quicker than either of us could normally," Feral said, ignoring the mayor and addressing the she-kat standing behind the desk.

A look of consternation and fear flashed across Callie's face before it settled into a look of determination. Not bothering with her purse, she came around her desk and stood beside Feral.

"Ready whenever you are. You direct the trip," she commanded, closing her eyes.

Feral said nothing as he made sure he included her in his transport to the park. They appeared not far from the park portal's location but among the trees so they weren't immediately in view. Both quickly and cautiously scanned the area before taking any action.

Not more than thirty feet away, his Enforcers on the ground and choppers in the air, were surrounding the Pastmaster who was riding one of his huge dragons. His tornado style portal was already gone.

Using his watch, the sorcerer ported to the ground leaving his dragon to keep the Enforcer's busy. Not seeing Feral and Briggs, he walked to the exact spot the portal had been then used his watch to apparently study the area.

Callie guessed he was using his own magic to 'taste' the foreign magic that had invaded what he considered his territory. By his sour expression he wasn't too happy about what he was finding. Both she and Feral had been warned that their magic was the same as the Pastmaster's because they were from the same world. This meant they wouldn't have that great an advantage as the short sorcerer was very skilled and they, most definitely, were not.

The only weakness they had been able to determine the Pastmaster had was his watch. Conal posited that it was what this creature used as a focal point for directing his magic and for drawing more from time itself. Since the Pastmaster was dead, Conal said he could not contain any, but that which kept in a living state, within him. The rest he must obtain outside himself. Which was why they were able to defeat him each time he attacked by separating him from his watch. So getting the watch in those first moments of surprise was imperative.

Leaning close to Callie he whispered into an ear. "Bind his feet, I'll get the watch!" She nodded and raised her paws. He did the same then hissed, "NOW!"

The Pastmaster never knew what hit him as his feet were bound suddenly making him fall backwards and a strong tug pulled his watch from his paw.

"NOOOOO!" He screamed in shocked anger and surprise. Raising his paws he began to cast a spell toward his attackers.

Callie quickly applied a saran wrap cover that flattened the sorcerer to the ground and handily blocked all sound from coming out of his mouth and slapped his raised paw to the ground, pinning him there.

Meanwhile the watch floated into Feral's paws. The pair walked out from their hiding spot and stood over their madly squirming prisoner who glared up at them with his one good eye in anger and disbelief.

"That was faster and easier than I dreamed it could be," Callie said, smiling in relief.

"I agree but that was because we never allowed him a chance to attack first..." Feral began to say when a roar reminded them both they still had something else to deal with.

The Pastmaster must have a mental link with the behemoth as it left off attacking the Enforcer and headed their way, flaming the ground as it came toward them. Tucking the watch into his pocket, Feral quickly raised his paws. "Watch the Pastmater! I'll handle this," he warned her as he stepped away from them both.

He shouted something in Latin. The dragon screeched as it flew into a suddenly appearing sticky net that bound its wings up causing it to fall to the ground with a hard thump that nearly knocked Feral off his feet. The Enforcers that guarded the park, ran up and fired balloons of iron filings from sling shots onto the dragon. No one knew if that would work on the Pastmaster's created dragons but thought it was worth a try. To everyone's relief, it did with the dragon disintegrating into powder leaving Feral's magical net to drift to the grass. He immediately dismissed it.

"Great job!" he shouted to his officers. They grinned in relief and pleasure. Turning away, Feral went back to Ms. Briggs.

The Pastmaster lay still, his expression stunned. He was finding it hard to believe he had been defeated by just two people and that his beast had been so easily destroyed as well. What had happened here that Megakat City had magical defenders and knew about iron?

"That was a good idea on your Enforcers part, Commander. And its nice to know we now have a defense against the Pastmaster's creatures," Callie said with satisfaction. "So, what do we do about him?" She asked, toeing the creatures side.

"Hmm, well we could keep him in that special cell we made until the SWAT Kats open the portal again then send him there," Feral said, thoughtfully.

Callie smirked. "Now that would be justice indeed and finally put an end to his constant attacks and I think Queen Callista would be very pleased as well. I agree with it and will ensure the Mayor and city council doesn't get in a snit having to pay for his keep. When they learn he will be permanently out of our fur, they shouldn't complain too much."

"Since he isn't alive so doesn't need food or other amenities, keeping won't be that costly. However, you and I will have to keep magical controls over him just in case," Feral warned.

"I agree. So should we escort him ourselves to his cell then?"

"Good idea but I think we shouldn't use magic for that as he is too experienced with dimensional travel than us and I don't want him doing something we can't prevent to escape," he cautioned then signaled to one of the choppers to land."

"Whatever you think is wise, Commander. I think I'll keep that on him for now. There's nothing I want to hear from him," Callie said archly as she watched four Enforcer lift the prisoner and haul him toward the waiting chopper.

Less than thirty minutes later, the Pastmaster was incarcerated in Megakat Prison and the special cell waiting for him. Once he was confined, both Callie and Feral weaved special containment spells to ensure he couldn't break out.

"How came you to learn magic!" The Pastmaster's rough voice demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Callie snorted, not enlightening him.

He scowled angrily at her but nothing he said or did would get the two unlikely magic users to tell him what had changed in this time period. He only knew he was well and truly caught.

As they flew back toward city hall where Feral would drop her off, she raised a paw and after a moment's confusion Feral grinned and did the same as they high-fived each other.

"We did it!" Callie crowed, elated.

"We did indeed," Feral said smugly. With that threat out of the way, the rest of their enemies would be very easy to manage. But, there still was the matter of that other dimension. He hoped the SWAT Kats were successful. Only then would he celebrate the city's freedom from their enemies.


	27. Chapter 27

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 27: Routing the Enemy and a Sad Homecoming

As he flew them away from the new King's palace, T-Bone pulled out the comm he'd given his mother and called her. The sky was already beginning to clear, allowing the late evening sun to strike the land with its warmth and light after such a century in darkness.

Hmm, King Lugus must have begun to hate the darkness as well since I think the weather was spell casted to be constantly gloomy, he mused as he spoke into the comm unit.

"Mother?"

"Son, you are alright?" Her voice was slightly breathless. She must be riding her fire horse, Papillon at a gallop, he thought.

"Yes, not a scratch on me. The war is over and King Gareth is a pile of dust. King Lugus sits the throne now and gave us a short grace period to clear his land of iron then leave. That's where my partner and I are going now. Should take us about a couple of hours or less to get it done. Since the darkness seems to be thinning, I suspect Lugus is already trying to set things right but I'm sure it will still take awhile to notify all his people that the war is over. Guess that means you have to hold them off for a bit longer," he briefed her.

"By the time you finish your task, my son, he will have sent word out to his troops. But you are right, we will have to keep them from over running us until that happens. It helps that you have reduced their numbers significantly so it is no great trial for us to do that. We are extremely grateful to you for bringing this terrible and ruinous war to an end, Lorcan. A feast in your honor will be a chance for our people to celebrate their freedom from war and greet you for the first time. For now, let us both complete our tasks as quickly as we can and meet again at our castle. It will be good to see it again." Relief and sadness filled her voice.

He understood why. Aleria castle had been under enemy occupation for years. There was no telling how bad it might look now but he said nothing on that as he bid her farewell.

"Until then, mother, stay safe."

"Aye, and you as well my son." She cut contact as the noise around her rose, drowning her out.

"I think we should do a fly over when we're done, buddy, just to be sure the enemy doesn't follow your mother home," Razor cautioned.

"Good idea. So let's get this done." T-Bone piloted the jet close to the King's palace and began a reverse grid pattern over the battlefield while Razor set his super electromagnet, that hung below the jet, to collecting every spick of iron dust possible. This meant flying very close to the ground. The only concern was having some of the taller members of the enemy and or flying ones, attempt to strike them down while they worked.

As they reached about halfway over the main battlefield, two huge mountain trolls did indeed make the attempt to knock them from the sky. They had huge cudgels of wood that were as big as a twenty foot tree. They swung at the jet as it made its pass near their position. T-Bone and Razor hadn't seen the behemoths because, surprisingly, the trolls had lain on the ground in wait then leaped up. For such enormous creatures, they were incredibly fast and agile.

"T-Bone look out!" Razor shouted just seconds before one of the massive wood poles headed for them. He rapidly tapped out instructions on his weapons board as his partner took evasive action.

"Crud!" The pilot growled, managing to wing upward, causing the electromagnet to swing violently to one side, knocking one of the cudgels away. Bringing the jet around again, T-Bone headed toward the enemy in a strafing run.

"Missiles away!" Razor shouted in warning.

Twin tarpedos shot out from the bottom of the jet and splatted into the eyes of the trolls with pinpoint accuracy, followed immediately by two explosive missiles which blasted the ground beneath the monster's feet. Another set of explosive missiles blasted the wooden cudgels, reducing them to toothpicks. The trolls roared in anger as they tried to get the gooey stuff off their eyes. Not able to see, they ran into each other and stomped carelessly onto members of their own army. Screams and curses rose upward as dark Fae scrambled to evade the stomping feet. Too many didn't escape adding their bodies to the already gory field.

"Eww...what a nasty mess. If there was anyone still alive in that spot, there isn't now." T-Bone grimaced, looking away.

"I don't envy anyone cleaning that up," Razor snorted, disgusted and rather nauseated by the scene below.

"I wonder how many we actually took out when we sprayed the field earlier?" T-Bone mused, rhetorically. "From what I'd been told and what I see now, we were far more successful than we'd been hoping."

"I agree. The iron dust obviously wiped out a large number of them. Won't know for certain since it was just too dark to know what effect we had. Your mother and/or her generals probably will know, but truthfully, I'd rather not find out. It makes me sick to know we actually killed so many in the first place," Razor said quietly. It would be a long time before he could bury this episode in his life deep enough not to have nightmares.

"I understand, buddy. I don't want to know either," T-Bone replied soberly. Though he knew what he'd done was necessary and this had been a war, that didn't make what he'd been forced to do anymore acceptable to his conscious.

Silence fell in the cockpit as they continued their mission. When they were nearly to the Light Fae's borders, they were attacked by a small flight of dragons and gargoyles who tried to strafe the jet but the iron coating plus the concussion missiles Razor fired at them caused them to veer away but they still hung about apparently looking for a weakness.

"Stubborn, aren't they?" T-Bone grumbled more to himself than his partner. He could fire a few spells at them but decided it wasn't worth the effort as long as they kept their distance. By the time they finished the final length that marked the separation between the dark and light Fae's borders, the dragons and gargoyles suddenly broke off and flew back toward the King's palace.

"Huh... probably got tired of watching us or Prince Lugus called them off finally," Razor said aloud, his attention not fully on them but on finishing their work.

"Most likely. I don't see anymore live enemy about now so I hope that means they've all retreated," T-Bone said, scanning the ground through his window.

"Good. We're just about done," Razor muttered. As he'd hoped the system of magnet to vacuum to collection barrels was working flawlessly.

T-Bone sighed and stretched his back the best he could in his harness. "Well, that's the last section completed," he remarked, steering the jet toward his mother's castle.

"Yeah, finally. But go to a holding pattern so I can finish cleaning up the magnet," his partner requested. T-Bone obeyed, pulling back on the power and going to VTOL. Razor completed the process of cleaning the magnet then sealing closed the storage tanks beneath the jet. "Okay, once more over the whole area, T-Bone," he said. T-Bone groaned but did as ordered. Thirty minutes later, Razor judged the job done. Any iron left would have to be absorbed into the soil but hopefully, there wouldn't be that much to cause any significant harm to the environment. Sighing in relief, he called to his partner, "Mission accomplished, T-Bone."

"Finally! Let's head toward Aleria," T-Bone said, relieved. They flew silently for about ten minutes when he spoke again. "You know, Razor, my mother will have a lot of work to do restoring Aleria to its former glory. So many people have been killed and magic so drained from the land, that I only hope they can restore things to normal fairly quickly rather than taking decades."

"Only you would know if that's possible, T-Bone. I know squat about magic. If it was restored the normal way, yeah it would take at least a century to heal the land but with magic...I haven't a clue," his friend admitted.

"Neither do I buddy. Remember, I'm too green at this magic business too, so don't feel bad. Guess I'll have to ask my mother or uncle. Speaking of which, I'd better call her," T-Bone said then pulled out his comm again. "Mother?" There was no response for some minutes but before he began to get concerned there was a click then a loud commotion roaring through the tiny speaker before his mother's voice shouted a response.

"Lorcan? Come to me north of your location. You will see the battle..." she said quickly then cut the signal as the roar of noise got louder.

"Crud! Guess not everyone got the word the war is over. Get your weapons ready, Razor. Looks like we have some more fighting to do yet," T-Bone called into his mic.

"Roger! Don't worry I'll be ready for anything," Razor assured him as his fingers danced across his weapon's board.

The Turbokat shot across the sky and was at the new battlefield within minutes. Though the sun was fast sinking from view, there was enough light to see who was who below them. His mother's fiery steed reared up on its back hooves and used it's front feet to knock in the heads of several odd looking creature as its rider sliced and hacked with her gleaming sword. Her forces were arrayed behind and beside her. Facing them were a motley group of dark Fae; trolls, fremlins, banshees, pookas, and boggarts...the dregs of the fairy world.

"Warn your mother's forces off, buddy!" Razor shouted in his mic as he brought up a special spray pattern of missiles on line.

"Roger!" T-Bone called his mother. It took her a moment to get free to pull out her comm.

"Yes?"

"Break off and retreat so we have a clear shot!" T-Bone told her quickly. Putting the comm down he watched as his mother shouted an order and fired a magical strobe of light to signal a retreat then turned her mount tightly and raced away with her army following at a run or gallop if they were mounted.

The enemy cheered thinking they had routed the Queen and gave chase. Only a few made note of the odd thing hovering above them. Those smart enough to realize their danger tried to halt the others but it was too late. Before anyone below could retreat or make a defensive move, Razor fired his missiles.

The missile attack: flung enemy flying into the air, gas blinded and made many sick, flash bulb missiles hurt those sensitive to light, iron shard filled missiles (that wouldn't travel as far as the dust had) turned many into dust as did nets laced with iron. All succeeded in routing the enemy, sending the still living, fleeing back across their own border.

"You did it buddy! They're running like scared rabbits. Let's go insure no strays have any funny ideas about hanging around," T-Bone said as he flew the jet over the line that separated the two kingdoms. He called his mother again. "Mother, you can slow down. The enemy is routed and fleeing home. We're going to insure no stragglers are hanging about."

"Wonderful news, Lorcan," his mother said, though her voice shook a bit from the bouncing motion of her steed. "See you back at the castle when you are through."

"Will do. See you soon, mother," T-Bone agreed then closed the connection.

"You know, buddy, I think your mother could use a complete survey of all the lands so she has a better idea of just how much damage there is and the estimated size of the enemy's army that's left. And we'll have to do it fast as darkness is definitely falling quickly. I urge we begin the sweep starting with King Lugus territory before he magically blocks it from us then finish up with your mother's lands. If we lose the light before we can finish, we can always check her lands tomorrow," Razor suggested.

"Great idea, buddy. With our camera we'll be able to actually show her," T-Bone said, pleased by this solution, steering the jet toward the Dark Fae's land again and speeding off into the growing dusk.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Queen Sorcha sighed in relief and sadness as she beheld her home she'd lost years ago. Her generals went ahead and searched the grounds and palace itself, returning with grim faces to inform her the enemy was gone and to prepare herself for the terrible state their home was in. She knew it would be bad since the lower type of Dark Fae weren't known for taking care of nature nor their own dwellings. Also, the destruction of the land they passed over on their way to the castle told its own grim story of wanton disregard for the land itself. What once had been a green and fertile place was now little more than a barren wasteland. At least the ancient grove of trees had been spared, much to her relief. The old oaks were centuries old and thick with ancient magic. Their loss would have been devastating to Alaria on both sides with a significant drain of magical energy that no amount of time could restore without them.

Though she was prepared for the worst, it still hit hard when she saw it for real as she guided Papillon over the trammeled pathway leading up and through the castle gates. The once pristine white walls of the courtyard were dirty and covered with graffiti, drawn in paint and blood. Trash and debris lay everywhere, once beautiful gardens were nothing more than dried weeds, polluted ponds, dead fish, and destroyed flowers. The gloriously green ivy that grew up the walls everywhere were now twisted brown twigs clinging to the dusty walls. The lovely silver trees that had stood about the gardens were all hacked down, the stumps all that remained. Butterflies, birds, or small animals existed.

Fled or eaten, she guessed, pensively, feeling almost numb by what she saw around her.

A pall hung over the palace. Behind her, cursing, cries of anguish, and anger rose from the throats of her people who finally had the time to see what the long war had wrought upon their home. Though she hardly felt positive herself, to insure her people didn't succumb to despair she needed to give them something else to do and hope to keep them going. Halting her mount, she made Papillon turn about and faced her army.

"Hear me my people!" Silence fell. "Our land has suffered much, but we are strong and will restore it to its once proud beauty. For now, we have much work to do. I know you are tired both in body and spirit but we need to be sure the enemy is no longer haunting our lands. Go out and rout them wherever you find them then return to our mountain stronghold for warmth, comforting, food and rest. We will celebrate our freedom and my son's return tomorrow when we are rested. Go now and return safely to me."

A ragged cheer greeted her announcement showing how much they still believed in her and their willingness to follow her orders. Restored to hope and the promise of care for all their needs at the end of their tasks, her army broke into squadrons and headed out over the land with renewed vigor. Within minutes, all that was left with her were her close retainers, seneschal, advisers, servants, her four top generals and their assistants.

Gesturing to her seneschal, she bid him approach her. The lean, tall Fae had an injured arm and a bandage around his forehead but moved as if it was of little matter as he awaited her orders.

"Blane. I want you to go over every inch of the palace, cataloging all that needs repairing, stocking, restoring, rebuilding, refurbishing and replanting. And don't try doing it alone. I want to be done and returning to our mountain retreat before midnight, is that clear?"

"Yes, your majesty. At once." He turned and gestured to all the servants to gather around him.

"General Zinar, I want an accounting of how many of my people live. I know this will take many days but I need it started."

"I understand. I will attend to it at once, my Queen." General Zinar bowed his head and turned away, gathering his assistants around him and giving orders.

With the important stuff taken care of, Sorcha turned her mount and rode toward the broad steps that led into the airy castle. It had once been a place of air and light, its huge spires rose into the sky, its walls made of a hard material that let light in but opaque for privacy, but its most important center piece was the huge oak that grew from the heart of the castle. She prayed this had not been destroyed. If it had, there was no hope of using this place again.

Halting Papillon at the bottom of the wide steps, she dismounted. Petting his face a moment, she stared at the huge pair of oaken doors that now hung open and showed signs of burns and cut marks from swords. No light shown from within...not a good sign. Sighing, her heart in her throat, she took her first step, grimacing at the sliminess of the once white marble steps as she carefully climbed them and stepped through the open door and across the filthy threshold.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

While his mother began the sad task of assessing the damage to her home, T-Bone and his partner got their first true look at what the ravages of war had done to the tabby's home world.

T-Bone felt a tightness in his chest at the horrible sight. The lands passing beneath them were completely stripped of trees, grass, and any other normal type of life. All that was left was nothing more than a barren wasteland of mud, dirt, bodies, and weeds. Lakes and streams were choked with debris and no longer blue but a sickly green. The King's army were still streaming in from every direction and congregating on the plain below the mountain palace as they got closer. Campsites were being hurriedly set up, the dead were being thrown into huge piles for burning later. It was a scene from what they'd been told the apocalypse would look like.

Photographing this depressing scene was difficult but they did it as quickly as they could and were, surprisingly, not bothered by any of the enemy as they did so. After more than thirty minutes of canvasing the area, they were finishing up when the jet jerked sideways as if an unseen hand had come down and swept them back toward the side of the Light Fae borders.

The jet spun like a top until T-Bone managed to regain control moments later and sent them winging, with all engines alight toward his mother's castle.

"Guess Lugus got word we were buzzing about and swatted us away like a fly," T-Bone observed, only mildly miffed at their treatment.

"Wow! I didn't know he could do that!" Razor said, a bit awed and unhappy. "If the old king hadn't been crazy, could he have done that to us too?"

"Of course. The King and Queen are the most powerful Fae in the world. No one else holds that much power," T-Bone said almost casually.

A choked sound came from the mic. "Then how the hell did you think we would win then?" Razor asked, shocked.

"I'd already been told I would have that kind of power too but I wasn't that certain I could beat him despite what my uncle and that prophecy said. I was hoping my modern weapons and the element of surprise would be enough to win. It turned out I was right," T-Bone said, flatly.

"Crud! You risked both our lives on a hunch?" His partner exclaimed, starting to get angry.

"No one forced you to come," T-Bone reminded him, rather coldly.

"Hey, no way would I allow you to face anything without me," Razor huffed angrily.

"So you shouldn't be surprised that we faced nearly insurmountable odds like at home against Mad Kat. Just like then, our luck held to see us through. End of story, buddy," the tabby reminded him.

Razor was silent for some minutes then a deep sigh reached the tabby's ears. "I know. I guess I just kept myself too busy to think about the danger we were in. Allow me to freak out a bit now that it's all over."

"Sure, knock yourself out and, Razor...?"

"What?"

"Thank you. You were right. I couldn't have done this without you," T-Bone said, softly.

Razor felt his throat close for a moment with emotion. "That's what I'm here for, buddy. Friends forever." He heard a smile in his friend's voice when T-Bone replied, "...yeah, forever." "Hey, didn't your mother say she was going to have a celebration when we got there? Won't be getting much rest for a bit, I think," Razor commented, changing the subject.

T-Bone laughed a bit sadly. "Don't think that will happen. The castle probably needs significant repairs done and is most likely stripped of everything. As tired as everyone is, I don't expect any major magic to be done for a bit until all are rested. Let's see what she wants to do when we get there," T-Bone told him then piloted the jet toward the bare glimmer of the departing sun.


	28. Chapter 28

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 28: Peace at Last

Darkness had fallen by the time the Turbokat arrived at the palace. In a dead meadow nearby, T-Bone brought the jet in for a landing. Only darkness and emptiness greeted them. Everyone must be inside the palace, he thought.

"Kinda glad we can't see the area, buddy," Razor said quietly. "I'd hate to see what kind of damage the Dark King's army has done to it." He released his harness in preparation of leaving the cockpit.

"You're right. Though I wasn't old enough to remember much, what little I recall was a place of light and beauty. My uncle described it as 'a shimmering jewel of light in the forest,' T-Bone sighed. He came around his seat to join Razor, wincing a little at the feel of iron that surrounded his side of the cockpit. Knowing this, Razor hurried down the ladder so T-Bone could get away from it quicker. He would have to remove that when they got home.

"Okay, we're here guys," T-Bone informed them.

Sighs of relief greeted that announcement, all of them releasing their restraints nearly as one. The tired Fae couldn't wait to get out of this strange flying machine and on firm ground once more.

Razor signaled the door open, his partner by his side. The Fae stood behind him and watched the door smoothly drop down to the ground with only a low humming sound. When it was halfway down, a couple of the warriors couldn't wait and flew out while the others stood patiently and walked down the ramp when it settled firmly on the ground then followed the Prince out. When they were all off loaded, Razor signaled the door to close and set the security on the jet then followed his partner across the dark field heading for the dim looking castle beyond it.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Your majesty! The Prince has arrived!" A katterfly announced in its tiny voice as it fluttered near the Queen's ear.

"Thank you, Lavena," Queen Sorcha said, smiling. The little katterfly smiled, curtsied then flew up to join her fellows that hung in a cloud above the dirty floor of the former throne room.

The Queen stood beside the royal oak that graced the center of her court. She'd been using a little of her magic to heal its many wounds put there by the swords, knives, and sharp claws of the enemy. It had suffered much but thankfully, it had not been cut down though there were some cuts that showed someone had tried. These were the deepest hurts she'd been working on with Conall and a few others helping but they were very tired and could only ease it's pain but not heal it.

The rest of her court watched as they sat on the floor in various small groups about the room, their voices a soft murmur as they didn't want to disturb their queen's concentration.

Ceasing her efforts, Sorcha stepped away from the tree and watched the entrance to this cavern. Only minutes later, a loud mutter of voices warned of her son's arrival then he strode in, his friend at his side and her warriors following close behind him. Lorcan looked well, though tired and was in his Kat form. She opened her arms and pulled him into a hug when he reached her side, he did the same to her.

"I'm so relieved you're not hurt, my son. We are also overjoyed that this horrible war is finally at an end thanks to you," she said warmly then let him go, her expression falling into sadness as she gestured around her. "As you can see, it had cost us dearly."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad alright but I know once everyone is rested and healed, it will be a place of wonder again," T-Bone murmured encouragingly.

"Whoa! A tree growing through the floor! Was that deliberate?" Razor broke in, amazed at the sight of such a huge and obviously very old tree, thrusting up inside a building. The only time he'd seen anything like this was when Dr. Viper had done it to one of their buildings. The place had to be razed because of it.

While still holding her son, Sorcha turned her head toward Razor. "Yes it was. It is the heart and soul of our land but it has suffered horribly from the foul treatment our enemies have laid upon it," she said sadly, putting a paw over the worst of the cuts.

T-Bone gently stepped out of his mother's embrace to move closer to the tree to study it. Extending his Fae senses, he recoiled from the wave of pain and anguish pouring from the tree. Sucking in a breath, he turned to his mother with a look of shock.

"It hurts! I never knew a tree could feel pain."

Razor eyed him in surprise and stared at the tree with a bit of trepidation. In the heat of battle and all, he could be forgiven, failing to remember how weird this place was. Having seen his share of dragons, gargoyles, trolls, and other odd creatures because of the Pastmaster, he'd not been to freaked out, but he'd now realized there was far more he didn't know about this world and wasn't too sure he wanted to know like trees with feelings! It was disturbing but he tried not to show it as that would be rude.

"All living things in our world have feelings, my son," the Queen gently admonished her son.

T-Bone shivered a little. He realized at that moment how much of his world he simply didn't know a thing about because he had left it so young. Unfortunately, he would never come to know it well as he didn't intend to live here until all he loved on Aristal was gone. Shaking his head of those unproductive thoughts, he altered to his Fae persona then reached out with one paw to the ailing tree and touched it.

Grimacing from the pain coming in waves from the oak, he blocked it as best he could and pushed as much of his magical energy into the tree that he dared.

Razor's eyes widened, the Queen held her breath, and her people went silent in awe as their lost prince made the tree glow with a golden light for many long minutes. When the glow died, Chance staggered a bit but didn't fall as he studied his handiwork.

The many hurts and wounds on the royal oak had been healed. As if in thanks, the tree burst out in new growth, new leaves gleaming a brilliant gold color sprang out everywhere. A long, graceful limb reached down and gently caressed the Prince on the cheek before returning to its former position.

"You're welcome," Chance said quietly.

The awe-struck silence was broken by cheers of joy making the tree shiver a bit and the walls shake, sending some of the dust and dead ivy falling to add to the mess on the floor. The Fae were wild with happiness as they pumped their arms and shouted, 'Long Live Prince Lorcan!' at the top of their lungs.

Chance blushed in embarrassment and no little pride at all the enthusiasm shown by his people.

"Way to go Chance," Razor said warmly, coming close to his friend's side and giving him a light punch to his shoulder.

"Aw, I didn't do much..." Chance tried to downplay his part but his mother shook her head.

"Modesty becomes you my son," she said smiling warmly. "But you do deserve all the accolades your people wish to give you. Especially for this..." she reached out and gently patted the oak which seemed to shiver with pleasure at her attention.

Chance's continued to blush, rubbing his neck with a paw. "Aw mother..." She just smiled and gave him a huge smile.

Before all the cheering and excitement could get out of paw, the Queen raised a regal paw in the air. Silence fell immediately but faces still shone with joy as they waited for her to speak.

"My people. Though I am overjoyed by the end of this terrible war and the return of my son to our world, we are all very tired and there is still much to be done before our world is healed of its many hurts. Please, gather your things and prepare to return to the mountains where we may eat and rest before beginning the task of restoring our home to its former glory," she commanded.

Another cheer greeted that command before everyone gathered their things and made for the exit, their happy, tired voices drifting back to those still standing near the oak. The katterflies flew about the people's heads like a multi-colored rainbow as they too left to return to their temporary mountain shelter.

"We can ferry all the wounded in the jet, mother," Chance offered.

His mother frowned a moment in thought then nodded. "Thank you Lorcan, that would be much appreciated." She turned and gently patted the oak again before striding with purpose across the dirty floor and out of the castle. Her generals, Chance, Razor, and advisers following in her wake.

In a very short time, the SWAT Kats were ferrying some 200 injured Fae in their jet. It took more than three trips but soon all had been returned to their mountain stronghold and were having their hurts attended to. The cooks and servants that had been left behind when all went to battle had been informed of the victory and had spent the time making a huge celebratory feast for the tired warriors.

Shouts of pleasure greeted the waiting servants by the returning army when they beheld the banquet waiting them. Ignoring the usual ceremony required before one could eat before her, Sorcha gestured for all to just sit down and begin eating. No one hesitated and soon all were stuffing themselves and chatting about the events of the day. The ranking individuals which included the Queen, the SWAT Kats, advisers and her generals, sat at the high table and dug in with the same enthusiasm. When dinner was over, none lingered as all were very tired. Everyone drifted off toward their sleeping quarters leaving the Queen alone with her son and his friend. She'd already dismissed her generals and advisers, informing them they would talk tomorrow.

"A place has been made for you to sleep, my son. Rest...we have much catching up to do" she said, gently, giving T-Bone a kiss on the cheek.

"You too, mother," the Prince murmured, giving her a hug and kiss back.

The two weary warriors were escorted by a servant to one of the many caves cut out to make rooms. Two soft pallets had been made up for them with a magical ball providing light in the windowless space. Neither said much as they chose a bed and crashed, too tired for anything else though T-Bone did magically remove their clothing for shorts and tee shirts then turned out the light globe.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Morning arrived late for all, exhaustion keeping them all sleeping until well past noon. The cooks set up a sort of brunch buffet that was kept hot to accommodate the different times people showed up to eat as they woke gradually to greet the day.

The Queen also had slept late but with a filled plate, she now sat in her makeshift conference room with the SWAT Kats, generals, and advisers. Today they needed to address how they were going to set about healing their kingdom and dealing with the new King of the Dark Fae.

The meeting was tedious and long, taking them through the rest of the day, not even breaking for dinner which was delivered to them. But by the time they broke up near midnight, a working plan of rebuilding and a prospective agreement had been drawn up to take to King Lugus.

"Thank you all for your attention to this. We have accomplished much and can now seek our beds with a freer heart," Sorcha said, tired but pleased by their work.

"Aye, my Queen. It has indeed been a good day. A peaceful night's rest be yours," General Zinar said, rising from his seat and nodding. The rest followed his lead and the room was soon empty except for the SWAT Kats and the Queen.

"Jake would you be so kind as to leave us? I know you have no real stake in our affairs so I was pleased you wished to aid us. Your ideas are much appreciated and will help a great deal with our recovery but I wish to spend time with my son now," Sorcha said, gently.

"You are very welcome, your majesty, I was glad to be of help and I certainly understand you two have a lot of catching up to do. I'll just head to bed, I'm bushed. See you tomorrow, buddy," Jake said politely, standing up.

"Later, Jake," Chance said, giving him a tired smile. Jake waved then left the room.

"Let's go for a walk, my son," Sorcha said, standing. Chance stood and followed her out.

"You won't be staying," his mother said with certainty.

Chance sighed and stared at the rocky pathway that wound around the temporary sanctuary the Queen's people had retreated to. Stars shone down from the clear night sky apparently for the first time in decades, the light breeze passing over them, fresh and clean.

"I'm sorry but I have a mission on my adopted world and people who depend on me," he said, quietly.

"Yes, I know and I couldn't be prouder of you, my son. But you know I will miss you terribly."

"You could visit me..." he said, turning to give her a hopeful look.

She smiled sadly. "It will be a very long time before that is possible, Lorcan."

"The time difference makes it even more of a problem, I know mother. That's exactly why staying here even a few days is leaving our city unguarded a very long time. And my friend and I's business that we run to support ourselves is losing customers quickly so we have to get back soon," he said unhappily.

"I understand, son, though I could sincerely wish it were not so. Since we have so few hours to spend together and much to catch up on, we'll spend it wisely. I can put my own duties aside now that the main plans have been laid, to be with you. That must hold us for awhile."

"I'd like that," Chance said warmly, giving her a hug.

They continued their walk in silence for a bit until his mother spoke again.

"You are a Prince, my son. You have your own funds to draw on. Though it isn't that odd form of coinage you use, I do know gold, silver and jewels are still marketable. I would not have my son a pauper. You should be focused on your mission and not have to worry about simple needs as living day to day," she told him firmly.

Chance's eyebrows rose. "Oh, I hadn't realized that I had such a thing. Yes, that will definitely help us. But Jake also has something he can do to raise our living standards. He thought about it before we departed. All his inventions as Razor are highly sought after so if he sells the plans he'd make a lot of money."

"That is indeed good news but that is for him, though I know he'll share the benefice with you. I have noted that he has a warrior's heart and a compassionate soul. I approve of him and am pleased you have such a good and worthy friend. However, it is wiser that you have your own funds so that your own pride will not be unsettled by your friend's generosity. I know us...we don't like to be beholden to others," she said, a knowing glimmer of amusement in her eyes.

Chance smirked back. "Yeah, that is a failing of ours," he chuckled. "Thanks, mother."

"You're welcome, my son."

After talking for several more hours, they finally broke at dawn to seek their beds.


	29. Chapter 29

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 29: Dropping into Chaos

The next twenty-four hours were busy for Sorcha's people as they set about restoring their homeland. While she was occupied visiting with her son, her generals and advisors quietly and efficiently set about getting things done.

Chance spent every waking hour with his mother while Jake spent it with Prince Conall, offering his input that would help where magic wasn't practical. He had been afraid he would be set aside and ignored once all the excitement wound down, but he learned quickly that he was as revered as his partner which embarrassed him hugely.

"Of course you're thought of highly, Jake. It was your science and quick actions that ended the war along with the prince's final blow against the Dark King. I could see that Prince Lorcan would not be who he is now if not for you and your more level head. He is hot blooded and quick to act and needs a person who can direct that where it can be of best use and that person was you. We all are very grateful to you," Conall said, firmly.

Jake blushed. "I'm just glad I could have been of help. Besides, I couldn't let my partner and friend face this alone."

"And that is why we honor you," Conall smiled. He liked this tom. After spending a great deal of time in his company, he was very glad Prince Lorcan had been blessed with such a good and honorable companion. "Now, what were you saying about fixing the security of our lands?"

Jake was glad for the change in subject as he didn't think he could get any redder from all the compliments he was getting. More in his element, he discussed what the Queen could do to strengthen her defenses in case danger threatened them again. Conall listened attentively as they walked about the temporary mountain retreat.

That evening a huge celebration was held. Much feasting and shouts of "Prince Lorcan!" were heard all night long. Chance blushed a lot but smiled gamely at his people's joy at their freedom from war and his return. Though not as glittering an event as it could be, still it was a lot for two fairly poor mechanics to handle. With many smiles and refusals of more drink the pair staggered to their beds around dawn.

As they got up the next morning, Jake broached the subject dear to his heart.

"Uh, Chance...?"

"Hmm..." his friend was in his Fae form which was a bit hard for Jake to look at, him being so glowy and all.

"When are we going home?"

Chance turned and eyed his friend a moment. Jake was relaxed but knowing his friend as well as he did, the tabby could see a fine tension in the lean body.

"Day after tomorrow, buddy." Jake looked a little upset by that. "I know I didn't get a chance to talk to you about this but we plan on doing a major magical healing today. We're all strong enough now and they need my input to make this work but when we're finished we'll all be exhausted."

"Oh, I see. You found out you _can_ heal the land then?"

"Well, almost. Mother and Uncle Conall said I was powerful enough when added to their own power that I can help the land heal at least a decades worth which will definitely help with their quicker recovery."

Jake's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. "A decade's worth!" he finally managed to squeak out.

Chance laughed and slapped his friend on the back. "I did say I was powerful, buddy."

"Yeah, but..." Jake sucked in a breath and shook his head. "No way could I have imagined just how powerful you are, Chance."

His friend just shrugged and blushed a bit. "Come on. I've got to eat then we get this done."

Jake realized they would be going to Alaria Castle for this so, to save time, and because they wanted to experience just once what it would be like to fly in such an odd machine, Queen Sorcha, her generals, advisors and all the nobility that held the greatest power, boarded the Turbokat for the trip.

Servants had left earlier that morning to prepare for their arrival as they would have to take care of the needs of the group once their magical working was done. None of them would be physically able to return to the mountain stronghold but if the working did what it was supposed to, the castle would once more be liveable. Clean up had been accomplished and furniture salvaged but the magical working should restore the castle to near normal.

Upon arrival, only the Queen and Prince Conall looked pleased and excited by the ride, the rest of her court were just glad to be on solid ground again. The ride had been a bit too unsettling for them.

They walked in silence toward the castle. It was a depressing trip, the land and castle proper looking much worse in the bright sunlight. Everyone filed into the throne room and moved into a large circle with the royal oak at their center. Razor was motioned back into an alcove with the servants to keep him out of the magical work as he wasn't Fae.

The solemn group of High Fae clasped paws then began to focus all their magical power into one powerful push that spread out from the castle and across the land. The power locus stayed up for a solid two hours before all were too drained to continue and let it lapse.

Servants rushed forward as did Razor and helped all those in the circle to their beds in the newly cleaned and bright castle. They were made to eat a hot meal before being allowed to sleep their exhaustion away.

Jake had been shocked by the amount of power he felt pass through him and what it had wrought on the castle and land. It was truly amazing. When he saw to his friend's needs and left him sleeping peacefully, Jake went out and looked around. He was joined by some of the servants as they too went around to see all the changes. With them as his guide, the slim tom was told that the palace had seen the most dramatic return to normalcy but the lands about it were healed only enough for one to see how it once looked. None were unhappy, though, as the land was well on the way to being healed completely by this jump start.

Jake had to agree that the change though not as amazing as the castle, was still nothing short of incredible. Everywhere, sprouts of green were showing, saplings were springing up where trees had been destroyed, injured trees were healed, rivers and creeks ran clear and clean, and the sky was shining a beautiful blue.

Walking back into the castle that glowed once more and was white and shining, Jake spent time walking the newly restored gardens and pond. It was beautiful and peaceful here in the main courtyard. What a difference from yesterday. Now he could see what everyone had meant by a true fairyland. The silver trees were fully restored, a riot of flowers he'd never seen before filled the beds along the walls, a green lawn stretched toward the clean, cobbled road, and the pond was clean and cool with fish the color of the rainbow cavorting within it. Ivy ran up the walls once more, hiding the starkness of those guarding walls. It was just an amazing place.

Wow! What an incredible place and Chance is willing to leave this for Aristal. I'm not so sure I could have done it, Jake thought as he sat on one of the many marble benches that graced this new paradise and absorbed all its wonderful scents. I'm just glad he'll be leaving his home on the mend so he won't be worried about it. Despite all this beauty though, I'll be so glad to go home, he sighed, getting up and returning to his friend's side.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

In Megakat City time had passed and a year had gone by. Feral and Briggs worked together as an efficient team. The city wasn't completely free of trouble but Feral's Enforcers had managed to keep the mayhem under control fairly well and when they couldn't Feral would reluctantly use his new magical abilities to take care of it.

Then on the anniversary of the attack from Aleria, Turmoil swept in. She apparently was unaware of the SWAT Kat's absence and of the other changes that had occurred especially with Feral and Briggs because the two kept their abilities out of the public eye as much as possible. She did know Dark Kat and Viper were dead but wasn't aware that the Metallikats were still around and wasn't familiar with the Pastmaster to be concerned about him.

So on this day which was a stormy one, she blitzed in to take her revenge on a certain tom Kat and a city that had thwarted all her plans. Using a new airship that could travel at a very high altitude that was undetected by the Enforcer's still not up to par defense system, she traveled above the storm then sent her pilots through the thick clouds to attack with devastating results.

It was early morning, day shift wasn't quite begun so many were only just getting up to start their day. Mayor Manx was still at his mansion in the country, just rising, while Ms. Briggs was eating breakfast in her apartment. Feral was already on his way to work when all hell dumped on them.

He had just turned the corner that would take him to Enforcer Headquarters when he saw the first missile strike against his building. He was forced to screech on his brakes as blast debris fell into the street before him.

Grabbing his radio and jumping out of his rig, Feral barked at dispatch, "Go to alert status one, launch all squadrons ASAP. I'll be up there in minutes so have my jet ready!"

"Yes sir!" was the brisk response.

Not wasting any time and since the attack would keep him from getting inside, Feral simply used magic to transport himself to the flight line. It was controlled chaos there as Enforcers ran to their jets and the roof cannons began their coughing reports as they shot at the fast moving jets attacking them.

Running across the tarmac, Feral reached his jet just as the warm up pilot was climbing out. He passed the officer and hurried into his cockpit. In very little time he was airborne and on his radio at the same time. From the smattering of reports filtering into his communication's center he was told their attacker was making all out war on them.

As he grimly began his own attacks against the enemy, he learned these jets were faster than his own and had already begun to devastate his forces handily and the city.

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, he learned that many important targets had been struck. They were the City Hall Clock Tower, the Nuclear Plant, the Defense Center, MASA, Megakat Biochemical Labs, the refinery and the airport. Apparently, whoever this was meant to cause as much disruption to the city as they could and were, unfortunately, succeeding.

As he tried to keep from being knocked from the sky himself, Feral felt overwhelmed. They were no way ready for such a formidable force and, in minutes, Megakat City was burning. He could plainly see their emergency forces were already overwhelmed.

His frantic thoughts were disrupted when his jet was blown out from around him. Without thought, he sent himself to Enforcer Headquarters startling his second in command when he appeared so suddenly in his own office.

"Do we have any idea who is attacking us?" Feral barked, running to his desk.

"No sir," Steele stuttered, trying to recover from his surprise.

"Damn it. Whoever it is has to be stopped!"

"But nothing we have is able to do that, sir!" Steele objected having already gotten the numbers for their losses. He handed it to Feral.

Feral grimaced as he saw over three quarters of his forces were already lost. No way would his chopper squadrons hold up against such a force nor could they launch in this storm anyway which meant there was only one way left and it was one he hated. Before he could make a decision suddenly a glow of light appeared which formed into Briggs.

"We're losing aren't we?" She demanded immediately.

Though reluctant to admit it he nodded soberly.

"Then you know what we have to do. Waiting isn't an option or we won't have a city left," she said flatly. This wasn't something she'd ever been trained in. She was a politician not a soldier but she and Feral was all there was between the enemy and total annihilation of their city.

"I know but without a target, I don't know how we go about using magic," Feral said frustrated.

She frowned a moment. "Who do you think is doing this?"

He paused and took a precious moment to really think. Who fought this way..."Turmoil!"

"Okay, and what is her usual methods?"

"An airship...it must be above the clouds though how that's possible..."

"Doesn't matter..." Callie interrupted. "She had superior forces the last time so why not this time as well? So she has to be above us coordinating this. What should we do? Take out the jets somehow or just send a magical net upward to try and catch her? Honestly, none of the things T-Bone and Prince Conall taught us were meant for anything like this."

Feral shook his head. "That was the limitation I saw in the beginning with that training. Our biggest issue is those jets are far too fast and trying to get through them to find her in this storm is beyond my own jets which there are fewer of at the moment. Hmm, let me think."

She nodded. Though anxious to stop the reign of terror, she knew only he would be able to come up with the right strategy since that was what he was trained for.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"Okay, buddy, ready to go home?" Chance asked the next morning.

"You bet!" Excited, Jake was up and dressed as Razor in seconds. Chance just grinned not changing yet.

The two went out and had breakfast for the last time with the Queen and Prince Conall only. After a pleasant but sad meal, Sorcha took her son aside and spoke privately to him for some minutes. Prince Conall turned to Razor.

"Take good care of our Prince, Razor. He will one day be our ruler and I have no doubt a good one but he will abide with you on that dangerous world of yours for many of your years and I wish him to come to no serious harm," he warned quietly.

"Whatever I'm able to do, your highness, I will. He means a lot to mean too you know," Razor said solemnly.

"Aye, that I do. A safe journey and a happy life I hope you find one day, young tom," Conall said warmly.

"That's my hope too, thank you, Prince Conall."

They were interrupted by Chance coming to their side. He gave his uncle a hard hug and a warm farewell. As they left the palace, a crowd had formed to see them off. Katterflies flew around their heads singing and the people cheered and waved, though they were sad to see their Prince leave again.

Chance flew upward a moment which made everyone go silent. He stared down at them solemnly. "My people...I will return though it be many years from now. Keep my mother and kingdom safe for my return and live in peace and joy until then." He waved in farewell and flew down to the jet. A farewell cheer chased after him as he vanished within, altering his form as he did so.

Strapping himself in, Razor already in his own seat and having done the preflight on the jet for his partner, T-Bone closed the canopy and took the controls then announced over their helmet com, "Let's go home!" So saying he put the jet into VTOL mode and lifted upward into the blue skies.

Once airborne, he held his position and waited. Below his mother opened a large portal. As it yawned open, T-Bone switched to forward motion and sent the jet plunging through the darkness. In only seconds, they'd crossed the dimensional barrier and popped out into a violent storm and utter chaos.


	30. Chapter 30

**WORLD BEYOND DREAMS**

Chapter 30: Epilog

"We have only one option I can see," Feral finally said after thinking of all the other options he'd rather use but none that would work. "There's a new jet that hasn't finished its testing yet but its flyable waiting at Pumadyne. What makes it special is it's ability to go higher than any of our jets presently. That means we should be able to reach the upper atmosphere where we think Turmoil's airship is. With our magical abilities, if the jet fails in anyway, we can escape but if it does what it's supposed to, it will get us up to where she is and stop this war."

She grimaced unhappily but nodded. "Okay, if that's all we've got let's get going. You got a location in your head?" She meant to go there by magic but one had to have been there first to get there safely.

Feral nodded. "Fortunately, I was just there a few days ago looking at it." Before he reached out for Callie to take her along with him he turned and left orders. "Steele, all we have left is distraction. Use running tactics to keep the enemy occupied and keep firing the cannons until we can get up there and stop this."

Steele swallowed his fear and nodded. He couldn't fail at this as they would all die before this was over if he didn't hold up his end of things. He ran out and barked orders as behind him the one hope for their survival vanished in a glowing burst of light.

Pumadyne was caught off guard when two people suddenly appeared in the secured area of the new jet. Feral barked at the nearby scientists, cutting them off before they could ask questions or argue with him.

"Is that ready to fly?"

"Well yes, but it's not been tested, you know that," The lead scientist objected.

"There's no time. Turmoil is attacking the city and its about to fall. This is the only thing we have left that might save us. Is it fueled?" Feral demanded.

"No . . . "

Feral raised his paw and sent a burst of magic to the jet. "Now it is. Open the doors and get clear. I'm taking off immediately." Without any more words wasted, he tugged Callie along with him and they ran to the jet. He helped her aboard, got her into the weapon's officer's seat then he took the pilot's and got the jet preflighted as fast as he could. Thankfully, he'd been given a full showing of the jet's capabilities and had sat here at the controls before so he wasn't thrown by some of the changes.

He soon had them rolling out the doors and turning into a small taxi lane. Within moments he was racing it down a test flight line and getting airborne. So far nothing rattled and no alarms went off much to his relief.

Since Pumadyne was on the edge of town, they were far enough from the main attack force to manage climbing upward without being noticed. It was rather disconcerting and uncomfortable for Callie to take the high g's Feral pushed the jet to as they climbed rapidly upward. In deference to her he kept asking if she was alright.

"I'll manage if you don't go too much more," she bravely managed to say even though she was barely able to stay conscious nor hang onto her stomach that was rebelling from the hard buffeting the jet was taking as it flew through the storm.

He smiled a little to himself. She was one tough she-kat, he thought. Not many could handle something like this without training.

Twenty minutes later he burst through the thick cloud cover into clear skies and the sight of a huge airship some miles ahead of them.

"There she is. Guess I was right, it was Turmoil doing this. Hang on Briggs!"

"Do we need to get any closer?" she voiced suddenly.

He paused in his motion to send the jet speeding faster toward the airship. She was right, as long as they could see it they could do something to it but what?

"No, we don't need to get close but what should we do to it besides stopping her that is?" he asked, thinking aloud more than asking her opinion.

Before she could speak a very familiar jet appeared through the thick clouds and just ahead of them. "Is that who I think it is?" She blurted in shock.

"I'll be damned! They're back!" Feral shouted then sent his jet to join the Turbokat. "SWAT Kats!" He shouted in his radio.

"Hello Commander. Seems we returned in time, eh?" Came the long unheard cocky voice of the pilot.

"Oh T-Bone, it's so good to hear your voice again. Yeah, Turmoil has done a lot of damage and we thought to come up here and take her out but hadn't decided how yet," Callie explained hurriedly.

"Hmm . . . well there's quite a few ways we can do this but what would be best?" T-Bone mused more to himself then them.

"I was about to suggest we cut her down to size. Since she's so enamored of being the biggest power out here how about we shrink her down to size . . . that's if we're able to do that?" Callie asked, innocently. Feral choked at the suggestion, Razor burst into laughter and so did T-Bone.

"Great idea," the tabby managed to say. "You are one wicked she-kat. No, you aren't capable of that but I sure am. Hang back and let me take care of this."

Feral held the jet back as asked and watched as the Turbokat came to a VTOL halt then the canopy opened. A bright glow burst forth and reached out to the airship, enveloping it with a nimbus of power. It looked like it was disappearing but when he looked harder he realized it was shrinking. As it was going down in size, it was also being tugged closer to the SWAT Kats as if on a fishing line. Soon he couldn't even see the ship any longer but it was obvious the vigilantes had something because moments later their canopy closed.

"Okay, we've got her and I've enclosed her ship in a bubble as she's mad and still firing her weapons at us. They sting a bit even though small," T-Bone said, ruefully, shaking his paw from a zap from a laser before he enclosed the ship. "So, let's go down and take care of her jets, shall we?"

"How do you propose we do that? I have no weapons as this is an experimental jet?" Feral asked.

"Wow! That's some risk you took there, Commander. Hmm, okay here's what we do. We both send out nets to capture as many jets as we can then drag them down to a field where you pin them there, leaving the net around them. Sound good?"

"Briggs?" Feral asked. He couldn't fire and fly so it would be up to Callie to do the capture work.

"I can do it, just get us in sight of them," she said firmly.

"Roger. Let's clean house!" T-Bone said, then sent the Turbokat into a dive.

The two jets burst through the heavy cloud cover and into the storm that still hadn't let up and spilt up.

"Yuck! What a mess!" Razor muttered. The jet suddenly rocked hard. "Crud! They found us first. Four o'clock position, T-Bone!"

"Got them, take control of the jet, buddy!" T-Bone said, opening the canopy and getting wetted before he managed a rain cover for them both.

"I have control, go for it, T-Bone," Razor said, now flying the jet toward their targets that were heading for them at the same time.

With seeming ease, T-Bone cast magical nets and managed to gather at least four of the small jets into his bright, glowing net. "Gotcha! Find us somewhere to take these guys, Razor!"

"Roger." Searching his scanners since it was too rainy to see anything, he soon located a huge field that should work. "Hang on, I've found a place." He flew the jet to the location and T-Bone deposited his catch there then they were on their way again.

Razor notified Feral where the enemy was being set down then headed for another group of fighters.

"We've got bogies coming at us, Briggs!" Feral barked.

"I see them!" She said, her paws up and ready with a spell. She managed to snag three.

For the next few minutes they waged a counter war and we're winning. Feral whipped the test jet here and there while Callie swept up batches of the enemy. Razor and T-Bone did the same at a higher altitude than them.

In about twenty minutes, the field was filled with enemy jets. Once the enemy realized they were in trouble, they tried to make a run for it but Razor and T-Bone stayed on their tails and soon all the enemy that could be found were caught and deposited on the field.

By the time the last had been caught, the storm was finally blowing itself out with a little encouragement from T-Bone. He didn't dare do more than make it move off a bit as he didn't want to disrupt the weather pattern too badly.

The Turbokat could land near the corral but the test jet couldn't so Feral flew it back to Pumadyne then he and Callie sent themselves back to the field. "So, I assume you've won the war and your home is safe again?" He asked the tabby as they walked up to the pair as they guarded the jets.

"Yeah, we kicked tail but there's a lot of healing to be done before my home looks as it once did," T-Bone said soberly.

Feral nodded his head in understanding. "Good for you. Glad you arrived when you did. Though Ms. Briggs and I were going to try something daring when you appeared."

"Yeah, it looked like it but I'm glad we did come along before you got into too much trouble. I'm guessing this is the first major problem you had to deal with since we left?" T-Bone asked as they studied their prisoners.

"We did deal with the Pastmaster much more easily than we could have hoped and after that it was indeed very quiet," Feral admitted.

"Wow, can't wait to hear that story. Well, let's take care of this mess, eh. We can have a nice reunion later," T-Bone said, getting to business which Feral found rather surprising.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The gathering of prisoners, restoring Turmoil and her ship to normal size and taking her capture, took several hours. Then there was the mess the city was in. It was horrific the damage Turmoil had managed to do before being stopped. It was much more than Dark Kat's last rampage.

"My poor citae," Mayor Manx moaned as he stared at all the damage reports coming into his office.

"I know," Callie sighed, tossing yet another report to her littered desk.

"We don't have enough money to repair all this," Manx said worriedly.

"I could perhaps help with some of that," came a familiar voice from the Mayor's door.

"T-Bone!" Callie blinked in surprise. When they'd parted at Enforcer Headquarters a few hours ago, she thought the pair would go home but here they were.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you hanging like this. I'm very powerful but I need help. Though our magic isn't compatible, we can still do a bit of healing if you and Feral can handle being near me long enough to get it done," T-Bone suggested, seriously.

"I don't know. It would leave us very weak too, wouldn't it?" Callie asked cautiously.

"Yes but there wouldn't be as much work to do either," he reminded her.

"That's true. Well, we should ask Feral . . . " she said, as she moved to her desk and called the Commander. His answer was quick.

"Though I don't like leaving so many things undone, I have to admit his idea is a good one. There is far too much damage and too many people will suffer if we don't do something. Let me leave orders for while I'm gone and I'll be there in about ten minutes," Feral said.

"Alright, see you soon." Callie hung up the phone. "He'll do it but needs a few minutes to leave orders first."

Just under the ten minute mark, Feral appeared in Callie's office making Manx squeak with fear. He fanned himself. "I'll never get used to you two doing that," he complained.

They ignored him. "So how do we do this?" Feral asked gruffly. He knew he wasn't going to like this as he hadn't forgotten what it felt like being near T-Bone and his magic.

"Just stand on either side of me and grasp my paws. Try to do your best to breathe easily and let me to the work while you feed me as much energy as you can spare. Do not over extend yourself. If you feel like you're about to lose consciousness, stop the flow immediately. Got it?" T-Bone warned, firmly.

Feral and Callie nodded gravely then took their places on either side of the tom. "Alright, build your energy first then take my paws only when I tell you to," T-Bone ordered as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Feral gritted his teeth at the feel of the foreign energy near him as he worked to build his energy levels as high as he dared. Then he heard T-Bone bark out "take my paw" and he did so quickly. It was like touching his paw to an electrical circuit. He couldn't hold back his sharp cry of pain but he didn't let go. He barely heard Callie cry out as well then all his focus was on pouring power into that painful contact.

He was starting to see stars and the world was getting dark when he was forced to shut down his part of the power circuit. His numb paw let go and he felt his body begin to fall.

Razor and Manx watched anxiously as the three burned with bright light that made it hard to see them. The power flowed outward from them for about thirty minutes before Callie gave a soft cry and let go of T-Bone.

Razor quickly reached out and caught her before she could hit the floor. He laid her gently down and moved hurriedly to Feral's side. But the tom was still gripping T-Bone's paw with grim determination though his face was a rictus of pain. However, the end came another thirty minutes later when he groaned, let go and fell like a huge tree. Razor grunted as he caught the big tom and lowered him to the floor.

Manx had gone to Callie's side and knelt by her to insure she was alright. She regained consciousness by the time Feral collapsed. Manx made her sit and not get up yet while he went and got her some water.

Meanwhile, T-Bone continued to stand tall, brightly glowing and pouring power outward for another hour before he swayed and cut the power off. Razor was there to help his partner to a chair where he could sit and recover. By now Feral had woken up and was sitting in a chair and drinking tea as we Callie.

The phone began ringing and Manx found himself listening and calming those calling in to report was what going on. When he finally managed to hang up after the twentieth caller, he had a tired smile on his face.

"You did it. The reports I'm getting is the miraculous repair of all the major buildings, clearing of streets, and the restoring of most everything back to normal. Amazing!" He said shaking his head. "You all deserve medals for this!"

"Thanks but I think all I want is to sleep for a week," Feral said thickly, his head and body feeling like lead.

"I ditto that suggestion," Callie said, barely able to hold her head up.

"By all means take the time off. With the city repaired, you can be missed," Manx said expansively.

Callie rolled her eyes at Feral who smirked at backed.

"Want me to send you all, home," T-Bone asked, tired but able to do this last thing for them.

"You sure you can," Feral asked, frowning. The tabby just nodded. "Then yeah, I can't get up at all," he admitted. T-Bone just smiled understandingly then made a gesture and Feral was gone.

Then he eyed Callie questioningly. She smiled and nodded then she was gone too.

"Okay, enough. Let me get you home, buddy," Razor said, both worried and concern.

"I certainly won't argue with that," T-Bone sighed, getting to his feet only with his partner's help.

Shaking his head, he realized things between them were going to be very different from now on.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

When the excitement died down about the attack, the city quieted again and things got back to normal. It took several weeks before the SWAT Kats got their lives back in order. They decided not to revive the garage after all.

Since they had been gone a year, the letter Razor had left with Dr. Sinian had been given to Feral. He'd been shocked and angry but got over it quickly. The two had done too much to save two separate worlds for him to be upset.

When things had quieted down, he went to speak with the pair. He drove into the quiet yard and noted the garage was closed. Parking his hummer, he knocked on the salvage yard door.

Jake answered it and stared at Feral questioningly. "Need to talk to you both," Feral said. Jake had forgotten about the package he'd left so didn't know what the Commander wanted. Frowning, he let the tom in and led him upstairs to their apartment.

Looking around, Feral saw a neat, tidy place that obviously had bachelors in it. He casually took one of the old overstuffed chairs and waited for Chance to join them.

Chance came in from their bedroom and also gave Feral a quizzical look. "What's up Commander? You never come out here to see us?"

Feral pulled out a packet from his coat and tossed it to the coffee table. Jake stared then eyes widened. He sank down on the couch but didn't touch the envelope as he looked up into the big tom's eyes to see what Feral would say about this.

"You left me a present that I only just looked at a month ago. I was shocked as I'm sure you knew I'd be but I've had enough time to deal with it since then," Feral said easily.

"Could someone clue me in on what we're talking about?" Chance demanded, annoyed as he sat next to his friend and scowled at Feral.

"I left instructions Dr. Sinian of what to do with our belongings if we should be gone more than a year, buddy. She was to hand this package over to Feral which she obviously did," Jake explained.

The light dawned on Chance's face. "Oh . . . "

"Yeah, oh. Well, let me set your minds at ease. I have no intention of arresting you. You've done too much to save this city so I'm willing to just overlook your extracurricular activities," Feral smiled grimly.

Both toms sighed in relief. "That's good. But let me bring you up to date on what we're doing now," Jake said. "We've decided not to reopen our garage, however, we will continue to maintain the facade of managing the salvage yard while going out and doing our own things now, perhaps even starting families," Jake flashed a brief smile on that. "The hangar is beneath us as you know now so we can't vacate the yard anyway. But as most of our main enemies are now gone, things are peaceful so we're going to do other things. Chance has his own wealth and I have a way of acquiring it that's legal so we'll pay off our debt within about a month."

"Really? That's good to know. I'm assuming Furlong's wealth is from being a Prince?" Feral smirked at that when Chance just nodded. "I won't pry into how you're acquiring your own funds," he said looking at Jake, " . . . but I'm glad you've not suffered from being gone so long. I think we can let things go as they have been and it's nice you're going to pay the debt off which you know means you don't have to stay here if you do change your mind later. So with that out of the way, I'll leave you two to pick up your lives again and welcome home," Feral said politely, rising to his feet and shaking each tom's paw to their amazed surprise.

When Feral drove away, the pair of toms could just look at each other. "Well, how do you like that?" Chance finally said.

"He's mellowed a lot," Jake said, shrugging. "Anyway, that's a lot off my mind. Now we can focus on what we want to do."

"Hell yes. I want to go out on the town and enjoy myself. What do you say?"

"I say you got a great idea there! Let's enjoy life at last!" Jake said, grinning. Life was definitely going to be good from now on, he thought.

Fini~


End file.
